Nightmare Shards
by Zapto369
Summary: The sequel to "Nightmare Shadows." Yami James returns!
1. Chapter 1: The Nightmare Returns

Chapter 1- The Nightmare Returns

"Where am I?" A somewhat tall woman asked in confusion. She looked around her and all she saw was mountains on either side of her. She was apparently standing in the middle of a pass between. But the main question was how did she get here? The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in her comfy bed at home. Was this all a dream?

Probably, but it didn't feel like any ordinary kind of dream. For one thing the entire world seemed to pulse with a dark purplish color. And all across the sky, lightning flashed like some kind of rabid storm. But the strangest thing about this dream was that she was completely lucid, completely aware and conscious of her surroundings. "Oh well, maybe if I just keep walking I'll find something worthwhile." The woman said to herself. This place gave her the creeps. There was just something about this nightmarish landscape that didn't seem normal, even by dream standards.

Suddenly an echoing peal of evil laughter was heard. "What was that? Who's there?" The woman turned around in fear in the direction of the laughter. Her answer was a lightning strike nearby and a horrible boom of thunder. "Who's there? Why, I'm hurt I thought you'd recognize me." A dark, yet somewhat familiar voice mocked. "What? Who is it? Show yourself!" The woman demanded in obvious fear. "There you go again, always making demands. Well here's one for you: Run!" The dark voice yelled as multiple lightning strikes appeared all around her. In a panic, she turned and ran away from the lightning strikes in fear and desperation while that voice continued to laugh demonically.

As she ran, the woman panicked. Who was this demonic voice? And why was it chasing her? But as she scurried away, she eventually tripped. And when she did, she looked back in fear to see one last lightning strike right in front of her. When the flash subsided, she saw a huge dark dragon with a dark figure riding on top of it. The figure, that of a young man, jumped to the ground not too far in front of the woman. "Ah, Lori Banet is it? It's been a while, but surely you remember me." The dark voice of the young man said. The woman was speechless, but the truth of the matter was that she didn't recognize the man. How could she when the young man wasn't even fully there? It was like he was only a dark shadow with bits and pieces simply not there. She only knew him as a young man because he still had the faint outline of a human. But surely this figure was anything but human.

"Speechless I see. That's fine; I've always hated the sound of your voice anyways." The demonic figure said. As the woman slowly rose to her feet she noticed a strange glowing symbol on the figure's forehead. It was a green circle with a strange six-pointed star-like shape in the middle. Then she noticed the man's dragon also had this same symbol on its forehead. "J-just who are you?" The woman asked again in fear. "Who am I? Well surely that is a base question." The young man figure chuckled as he walked closer to the woman, who gasped in fear and confusion as a green circle formed around her feet; a green circle with that same dark symbol in the middle. Suddenly she felt very weak, almost as if her very soul was being drained from her. "Who am I you ask?" The demonic man figure asked as the symbol on his forehead glowed brighter. "I'm your worst nightmare!" He proclaimed as the woman took one last gasp of dream air as her soulless body crumpled to the ground.


	2. Chapter 2: Strange Happenings

Chapter 2- Strange Happenings

"Proud and so glorious, stand here before of us, our swords will shine bright in the sky! When united we come, to the land of the sun, with the heart of a dragon we ride!" James Alvarez's phone rang from his nearby computer desk. In a tizzy, he jumped up from the bed where he was sleeping and grabbed his cell phone to answer it. "Hello?" He said into the device. "Hey, I'm on my way." A female voice said from the other end. "Already?!" James exclaimed. "Yea, didn't you say 9:30?" The female asked. James turned to face his clock, which evidently read 8:45. "Oh jeez, you're right! Ok, I guess I'll see you in a bit then." James said to his phone. "Alright, see you there. I love you." The female told him. "I love you too." James replied before they both hung up the phone.

"I can't believe I overslept." James said to himself as he sat at his desk for minute. "I thought I told mom to get me up when they left." He said. His family had gone that day to some farmer's market festival, but James didn't really care about that kind of stuff. Plus he had other plans. His girlfriend and love of his life was coming over that day, just to hang out at his house. "Well I should probably get ready then." James decided as he grabbed some fresh clothes and ran into the shower.

When he got out, he changed into his favorite outfit- angel shirt, jean pants, and of course, his legendary jacket. At least now it was a little more appropriate for the weather, being mid January and all. James quickly looked at the clock which now read 9:15. "Alright, she'll be here pretty soon." James said to himself as he walked into his kitchen, which had windows that faced the street, making it easier to see when his girlfriend arrived. "Hmm, what's this?" James asked no one in particular as he glanced at the newspaper that was lying on his kitchen table. The headline read: Middle School Math Teacher in Coma, Diagnosis Pending. James read the article and was horrified by what he saw. Apparently, his old math teacher, Mrs. Banet, was now in a coma in some hospital. She had fallen asleep the night before, but was unable to awaken. The doctors were baffled.

"That's too bad, I hope she's ok." James commented. Granted he never really liked Mrs. Banet, hated her actually, but would never wish such harm on her. Not anymore at least. His girlfriend had shown him the error of his hateful ways more than a year ago, and especially after his dark side actually came back to haunt him…

Oh, that memory still haunted him. A little under a year ago James and his girlfriend went for a walk, but were ambushed by a strange man who claimed to be James' evil side. He even almost took their souls with this evil trading card. But together the two triumphed over the darkness and all was well now. "Yea, that was a long time ago." James said confidently to himself as a mini-van pulled up to the curb in front of his house. "Oh good, she's here!" James exclaimed happily as he went to open the front door. But right before he got there, he felt a sudden chill and heard an ominous whisper. "The darkness never really goes away…" It whispered coldly. "Whoa, what was that?" James asked no one, but the moment had passed. James simply shrugged his shoulders and continued on with his task.

"Good morning!" James welcomed his beloved cheerfully. "Morning! How are you?" Kristiann, James' girlfriend's name, asked in reply. "I'm good." James replied as he embraced her after she had gotten out of her car. They went into the house and James closed the front door behind them. "So what do you want to do?" Kristiann asked as they walked together through the house. "I don't know, whatever you want." James replied as Kristiann walked into his room to put down her purse and such. Right before he followed her into the room, he felt another sudden chill and heard another ominous whisper. "Fool, the darkness is coming once again…" It said faintly. James spun around again, but again the moment had passed. "That's so weird." James commented. "James, you ok?" Kristiann called from his room. "Yea, I'm fine, the weirdest thing just happened to me though." James replied as he too entered the room.

He told her all about the chills and whispers and she looked very concerned. "I don't know what's going on, but it's kinda freaking me out." James stated. "Yea, I'll say, if it happens again, please let me know. I hope everything's ok…" Kristiann replied concerning. "Yea, I'm sure it's ok. Come on, let's go watch a movie or something." James said regaining his cheerfulness. Kristiann agreed and the two snuggled up on the couch for a good home-time movie.


	3. Chapter 3: Souls to Squeeze

Chapter 3- Souls to Squeeze

"So have you heard that weird whispering anymore today?" Kristiann asked from the phone line. "No, not since the one right before you arrived today." James replied into his cell phone from his room. It was much later that night, about 10:00, and James was on his daily, or more rather, nightly call with his girlfriend. "Well that's good to hear, just stay safe ok?" Kristiann said lovingly. "I will, you know me. Anyways, I'm actually feeling really tired all of a sudden, can I go to bed?" James asked. "Of course, honey. Good night, I love you." Kristiann replied. "I love you too." James replied before hanging up the phone.

"Alright, bed time." James yawned as he went into the bathroom to get ready for sleep. After he had brushed his teeth and such and returned to his room and said his prayers, he laid his down to sleep. But right before he fell asleep, he whispered to himself per usual. "Kristiann, I love you so much, you're so beautiful." He whispered to himself, hoping subliminally that Kristiann would hear him. "Love will only get you so far…" A mysterious voice replied quietly, but James paid no attention, for he was already out.

When a loud peal of thunder awoke James from his sleep it was only a few minutes to midnight. "Wow it's loud out there." James sat up, awakened from the storm outside. He looked at the clock and was just about to fall back asleep when he saw a strange green light from the outside hallway. "Hunh? That's odd; I wonder what that light is." James thought to himself as he got out of bed and headed out of his room to investigate. When he got out into the hallway, he noticed that the green light coming from his sister's room grew faint and then disappeared. Curious, he slowly opened her door and looked inside. All he saw was the sleeping figure of his sister.

"Hmm, that's really weird; maybe I just imagined that green light." James thought to himself. But just as he turned around to go back into his room, he saw another green light coming from his parents' room. "Alright, something is definitely up here. And I'm gonna go check it out." James thought defiantly as he burst open the door to his parents' room. What he saw horrified him. All around his parents' bed, a large green circle with a hauntingly familiar symbol in it glowed with dark energy. "No, it can't be!" James exclaimed aloud as the circle faded and disappeared. "Hmm, you're too late." The mysterious voice from before said. James had not noticed it before, but sitting on the edge of the bed was a dark figure that resembled the shape of James himself. The figure however was not fully materialized, perhaps only a shadow, with bits and pieces missing. But there was no doubt in James' mind; this was the person he feared most.

"Don't worry; their souls will be put to good use." The dark figure said as he stood up from the bed to face James. "What have you done, Yami?!" James exclaimed in fear and anger. "I only did what you've always wanted to do. I punished them for all the things they've done to you." The shadow of Yami James replied. "But that's not right, I might have not liked them sometimes, but I didn't want their souls to be taken!" James shouted in reply. "Hmm, that's what you say." Yami replied coldly. "Just what do you need their souls for anyway? And how did you even take them without playing the Seal of Orichalcos in a duel?" James asked his nemesis. "I'm glad you asked. Since I know there's no way you can stop me, perhaps I'll challenge you with this knowledge." Yami began.

"You see, the time has come for me to stop living in your shadow James, literally. So during my tragic exile inside the recesses of your mind, I gathered my strength and prepared for my revenge. Eventually, the time came and my strength recharged enough for me to split my soul from yours and break free from your body." Yami explained. "But alas, my power had not fully recharged. In fact, I was nothing more than a shadow of my former self, quite literally. And even if I was at full power, it still wouldn't be enough to stop you and your accursed girlfriend. I know that if you could beat me once, then you can do it again, so this time around I'm harvesting souls so that when I am reborn, I will have the strength to crush you once and for all." Yami said with venom in his eyes and voice. "So then just how do you propose to gain your full power back?" James asked.

"Once again, I'm glad you asked. Since I know that I'll defeat you eventually, I'll give you this little challenge." Yami said as he pulled out a small stone from his pocket. The stone swirled with dark purple, shadow energy, but with traces of green flashing throughout it. "You see, these stones, these modified pieces of the Orichalcos stone fully house my power. In order to fully materialize in this world, I must gather the seven Nightmare Shards and fuse them together." Yami explained as he played with the Shard in his hand. "But what happens if we destroy all of those Shards before you can find them? Then you can't materialize and we win." James said confidently to him. "Hmph, it doesn't matter. You don't know where the Shards are. There's no possible chance you'll find them before me. I already have one, so now all I need to acquire are the other six. And after that, you'll end up just like these two fools, soulless and lost in a sea of chaos and despair." Yami said wistfully.

James looked at his soulless parents for a moment and then looked at Yami and his precious Nightmare Shard. With all of the emotions of sadness, fear, and anger inside of him, he lost it. As a tear fell to the ground, James lunged forward in an attempt to strike at Yami. "You bastard, you took my family's souls! I'll find those Shards and make sure you never come to this world ever again!" James screamed as he pushed a surprised Yami forward, knocking the Shard out of his hand. "No!" Yami screamed as his Nightmare Shard fell to the floor and shattered into a million pieces. He pushed James back in a pant and then began to fade away. "Argh, you may have destroyed one of these Shards, but it's not over! As long as even one Shard remains intact, I can still regenerate the stone and revive myself. So it's over for you James and it's only a matter of time before you fall into the darkness, my darkness!" Yami screamed as he totally disappeared. "It's all over James, it's only a matter of time." Yami's voice whispered as James kneeled at his parent's bed weeping for their loss and fearful of the future.


	4. Chapter 4: Storm of Confusion

Chapter 4- Storm of Confusion

The rain was coming down hard at about 4 in the morning as Kristiann awoke from her asleep due to a loud crack of thunder. If there was one thing she didn't like, it was a massive thunderstorm, and that's exactly what she awoke to. Not being able to fall back asleep with all the thunderous noise, she walked out into the living room and paced the room for a few minutes. She knew that she should go back to sleep soon because she had to get up early for church in a few hours, but she couldn't help it, the thunder made her nervous. But, she figured, she might as well go lay down and hope for the best; there's no sense in pacing around watching the storm. She looked outside her front door's window for a minute and observed the storm. Man, it's really coming down out there, she thought to herself. But then again she figured it was best to go lay down, so she turned and headed back to her room.

But just as she was about to enter her room's hallway, another loud peal of thunder rattled the area. But more than that, another noise also was in the mix. Very faint, but Kristiann could've sworn she just heard a knock at the front door. Just to be safe, she turned around to look at the front door, and was horrified by what she saw. Practically collapsed against the front door, was none other than James, soaked from rain and exhausted from his long journey. "James!" Kristiann exclaimed in shock as she ran over to the front door and unlocked and opened it. "Kristiann…" James trailed off as he fell once the door was not supporting him. He fell right into his beloved's arms, a perfect consolation from his journey. Kristiann exclaimed his name again and brought him over to the couch where she let him lie down.

She sat on the side of the bed next to him and ran her hand over his forehead a few times until he regained consciousness about 10 minutes later. "Kristiann… thank you." James whispered as he came around. "Oh James! What happened to you?" Kristiann asked as she embraced him in relief that he was awake. James explained everything that had happened to him the night before, all about Yami and his parents and the Nightmare Shards. Then he explained how he didn't know what to do so he just walked all the way to Kristiann's house in the pouring rain, just to be near her. Kristiann listened to his story with compassion and also slight fear, but she consoled him by holding him and kissing him multiple times. "It's going to be okay, baby." She kept saying to him as he practically fell asleep in her arms. "I'm sorry, baby, but it wasn't easy walking here and I'm really tired." James said. "Right, of course, baby. You go get some sleep, I'll be right here in the morning." Kristiann replied lovingly and James laid down and fell asleep. She went back to her room and also fell back asleep. They would face the morning together.

"James…" A mysterious, though not necessarily dark voice whispered to James from the darkness of sleep. "James… hear me." The voice whispered again as James awoke in a dream and saw someone staring back at him. "James, listen to what I have to say." The face told him. The face had visibly blonde hair, but the majority of the face was covered up by a kind of turban so that James could only see pieces of hair and deep red eyes that bared no trace of evil in them. "Who are you?" James asked the mysterious dream visitor. "Everything will be explained to you soon enough. But first you must listen to what I have to say now. While it is true that Yami James can control the power of dreams and nightmares, he has no power in this place because of Kristiann's light. But that barrier is slowly fading as Yami's strength grows. But there is one place that will forever be free of his dark influence and you must go there tomorrow. Meet me tomorrow at your sacred grove and everything will be explained to you." The mysterious man explained. "Sacred grove? What are you talking about, where's that?" James asked in confusion. "Your sacred grove, the place where only the light and love resides, you may know it as Owney Park. Go there tomorrow, and all will be made clear. Now farewell." The mysterious voice finished as James awoke again in the real world.

When he awakened, light was pouring in through the front door window and the family was already busy getting ready for another day. "James, you're up!" Kristiann exclaimed as she ran over to him. "I'm sorry to hear about your parents, James. Kristiann explained everything to us." Kristiann's father Mr. Baluta said to him as James sat up. "Kristiann, we have to go to Owney Park today." James said adamantly. "Hunh? Why?" Kristiann asked. "I'll explain everything on the way, but we have to go there today." James replied. "Alright, but first we have to go to church, Uncle Frank is probably worried that you haven't shown up yet." Kristiann replied and they both agreed that church first was their best option. So after Kristiann was all ready, they drove over to James' house, picked up some church clothes, and then headed off to church before the mysterious meeting later at Owney Park.


	5. Chapter 5: Sheik and the Sacred Grove

Chapter 5- Sheik and the Sacred Grove

After they went to the 11:00 AM mass, James and Kristiann discussed their situation with James' Uncle Frank, the closest adult to him, perhaps even closer than his own parents. Uncle Frank said that he would handle everything with James' soulless family, including getting them to a hospital and everything. "You guys just focus on stopping Yami." Uncle Frank told them. They happily agreed, and then they were off to the sacred grove of Owney Park.

Beforehand, they stopped at James' house to pick up clothes to wear and such. As per usual, James wore his favorite outfit and jacket and Kristiann wore hers. When they arrived at the park, all was quiet. Owney Park was not very large, but it held great memories for the happy couple. At its center was a large tree that was perfect for climbing and a bench right underneath its shade. It was at this bench that James and Kristiann sat down once again and waited for this mysterious visitor. "So James, tell me about this mysterious person you saw in a dream last night." Kristiann said. "Well, I couldn't really see his face, but he had deep red eyes, not evil red eyes, but they were a definite shade of red. I don't think he means any harm, but I would really like to hear what he has to say." James replied. Kristiann looked at him, not sure of what to believe of this unknown man, but then a person jumped down from the tree and landed in front of them.

The man that stood there was not very tall, but he did have the exact same face as James described from his dream. His body was slender and completely covered and, if anything, he looked a lot like some kind of ninja. He also had a large crest on his chest of a mysterious eye, one that appeared to see the truth. "Greetings, James, Kristiann, thank you for coming." The mysterious ninja man said to the two. "Just who are you and why did you ask us to come here? I would like some answers!" Kristiann practically shouted at the man. "I understand your caution, but there is no need to be alarmed, I am not your enemy." The man began. "My name is Sheik. When Yami split himself from your mind, James, I was also set free. I am yet another personality of you James. As you are the light and Yami is the darkness, I am what is left in between. But I was able to form a physical body in this world, though I am confined to this place, a place of pure light and peace." Sheik explained. "So you're saying that you're another side of me and that you can't leave this park?" James asked to clarify.

"That is correct, but nonetheless I wish to help you in your quest. With Yami's revival on the horizon, the balance of life is off. Darkness and light must always be in complete harmony or else chaos will reign. I can not allow that to happen. So in order to restore balance to the universe, Yami must be stopped." Sheik affirmed. "But why is Yami so important to the balance of the universe? I thought he was just the evil side of James." Kristiann asked very confused. "That is true, however Yami's evil is great and if he is to be reborn, he will not stop with you two. You have already seen how merciless he is with taking souls." Sheik stated as James looked to the ground. "But why is it me? Why is my darkness so great? Why is that Kristiann and I have to save the world?!" James asked in frustrated confusion. "Sometimes destiny chooses great heroes in time of need. No one can know the meaning behind that, not even I." Sheik replied with a touch of sadness.

"Alright, so we have to stop Yami, but just how can we do that? And how can you help?" Kristiann asked. "As I'm sure you already know, Yami can only be reborn if shards of his own soul, the Nightmare Shards are gathered together. The Nightmare Shards are indeed pieces of Yami's soul, broken apart when you two defeated him not too long ago. When the Seal of Orichalcos trapped him, his soul was scattered across the land and in order to fully revive his soul, all of the pieces must be brought together." Sheik explained. "Well that's great but we don't know where the Shards are and Yami does. How can we possibly get them before he does?" James asked. "Yami is not the only one who knows where the Shards are hidden. I also know where each of them is, or rather, I have the ability to find out. And if I focus enough of their dark energies, I can pinpoint them for you. "Really?! So you can tell us where all the Shards are so we can go and destroy them?" Kristiann asked. "That is correct. I may not know exactly where they are, but I can focus enough energy to give you enough hints to find them. The Shards, being pieces of Yami's dark soul were broken apart by pure light. And as such, each of the six remaining Shards resides in places where darkness was either created or destroyed." Sheik explained.

"Then please, Sheik, tell us where the first shard is so that we can go and destroy it!" James pleaded. "Very well, I shall focus my energies and pinpoint its location." Sheik said as he raised his arms to the eye on his chest and focused his mental energy. "I see it! I see the location where the first Shard rests!" Sheik exclaimed after a few moments of meditation.


	6. Chapter 6: The First Shard

Chapter 6- The First Shard

"Sheik, can you see where the first Shard is located?" James asked hopefully. "Yes, I can see images and I shall relay them to you. First off, I see great light, so it is no doubt a place where darkness was destroyed." Sheik began. "But then, I see… storage units perhaps? Yes, it looks like some kind of storage place. And there's a sign… it reads U-Haul." Sheik continued. "No, it can't be!" Kristiann exclaimed in realization as to the Shard's location. "Wait, I see one more thing… a room! Yes, it's some kind of apartment room with a large green couch. That is where the Nightmare Shard is located." Sheik finished his vision. "I hope that helps you in your quest." Sheik then said as he slowly backed up. "Actually it helps a lot, thank you. Now we know exactly where to find the Nightmare Shard." James said as he turned to Kristiann and nodded. "That is good. But you must remember one thing, both of you bring your duel disks. I do not know if you will need them, but just to be safe bring them and your precious decks with you. Now go, find the Shard and destroy it. The world is counting on you." Sheik reminded them as he backed away even more.

"Wait, where are you going? Aren't you going to help us destroy the Shard?" Kristiann asked. "I'm sorry, but I can not. But you two are the heroes chosen by destiny to stop Yami. I wish you the best of luck." Sheik said as he pulled out a small bomb-looking object. He threw it to the ground, and with a flash he was gone. "He sure is a mysterious guy. I was hoping he would help us and all, but I guess for whatever reason he can't." Kristiann observed. "That's ok, because he helped us enough. Now we know exactly where to find the first Nightmare Shard." James replied optimistically. "That's right! And go figure, it's in the same place where we first really got together." Kristiann laughed. "Yea, those were the days. I gotta remember to bring my legendary jacket for this one." James smiled widely. "James, you always wear your legendary jacket." Kristiann stated. "I know, I just don't want to drop the ball on this one." James laughed at the inside joke. "Hmm, I love you." Kristiann said after she had finished laughing.

"I love you too. But the clock is ticking and worlds don't just save themselves." James reminded her of the mission. "You're right, let's go!" Kristiann finalized as they both got into her car. "Alright, let's do this… together." James said as he gave his beloved a quick kiss. Then the two were off. "Your ordeal will not be easy, but I know you two will pull through it together. Good luck." Sheik whispered from the tree in the park as Kristiann and James drove off.

It wasn't a long drive to get to a simple U-Haul storage center. All around the place were storage units, but the place where James and Kristiann were headed was the main office, for above the main office was an apartment-like room where Sheik said the Shard was hidden. The two stared at the building from the outside for a minute, then turned and nodded at each other, and then they headed in. At the front desk, was a man that neither of them knew, though they knew his name was Joe because of the name tag he wore on his U-Haul uniform.

"Um, can I like help you guys or something?" Joe asked the two hesitantly, for it was obvious that he was the new guy on the job. "Yes, we need to take a look at the upper room here for a few minutes." James adamantly told the young guy. "The upper room? Heck, I didn't know we had an upper room! But I guess you guys can go up. Just don't break anything and stuff." Joe answered as James and Kristiann made a run for the stairway. When they got to the top of the stairway, they nodded at each other again and threw open the door.

The room was exactly the same as the two remembered it. Up against a wall right in front of them was a green couch and a television set. To their right were "their couch" and a small kitchen area, complete with refrigerator and stovetop. On the other side of the room was a doorway that led to a small bedroom on the left and a bathroom on the right. "Well here it is, our couch. This is where Sheik said the Shard was hidden. That makes sense considering darkness in me was destroyed this night." James said as he thought back to that night. "Yea, this is the place. Well what are we waiting for? Let's search this couch!" Kristiann said as she began searching the couch for the Shard. They looked all over it, under the cushions, even underneath it, but they couldn't find the Shard anywhere.

"Where could that Shard be? We've looked all over this couch!" James exclaimed. "Maybe it's somewhere else in this room. It's worth a look at least." Kristiann offered. "You looking for this?" A deep voice said from behind them. James and Kristiann turned around and saw a huge man standing in the doorway. He wore a large open full-body coat with a gray shirt underneath. His blonde hair was raised forward, with two locks coming out in front. Over his left arm, he wore a chaos duel disk. Also in his right hand, he held up a string with a Nightmare Shard attached to it. "The Nightmare Shard! Please, sir we need that stone. You don't what kind of evil it holds and it must be destroyed." James cautioned, but the man simply smiled.

"I know exactly what kind of dark power the Nightmare Shard holds. Frankly, it's you who are kept in the dark." The man stated. "What?! Just who are you and how do you know about the Nightmare Shard?" Kristiann asked the man. "The name's Raphael and I know everything about the Shard because I was created by it and I live to protect it from people who try to destroy it, people like you." Raphael revealed, much to the shock and James and Kristiann. "But how?!" James asked. "Master Yami knew that you and your little girlfriend there would try to destroy the Nightmare Shards, so he created one guardian for each of them to protect them from the light. And I am that guardian. And it is for that reason that I can not allow you to touch this stone." Raphael revealed as he put the Shard around his neck like a necklace.

"Then in that case, I'll just have to take it from you!" James exclaimed as he ran towards Raphael who grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground. "You fool, did you think you can just take the Shard by force? No the only way to get past me is to defeat me in a duel." Raphael revealed as James crawled back to the couch. "Fine, then I'll duel you." James said in pain as he raised his left arm, the one with the duel disk on it. "No James, please let me face him. You've just been injured and besides you've been through a lot lately." Kristiann offered. James looked into her eyes for a minute and then gave his answer. "Thank you, baby. Now please, take him down and destroy the Nightmare Shard." James said gratefully and lovingly. "Alright, Raphael, you want a duel, then it's a duel you'll get. But when I defeat you then you have to give up the Nightmare Shard to us." Kristiann said confidently as he stood up to face him. "Fine then, have it your way. But no one can defeat a guardian. And not only am I one guardian, but I have an entire deck full of guardian monsters. But I accept your challenge." Raphael answered as a strange light filled the room and Raphael and Kristiann disappeared.

"What?! Where did they go?!" James said in a panic as he ran to the window where he was relieved to see Raphael and Kristiann standing on opposite sides of the roof of one of the storage units. "You can do it baby…" James encouraged. "I thought we might need some more room for our duel. Now are you ready?" Raphael asked as he activated his duel disk. "Of course I am." Kristiann answered as she activated her duel disk. "Then let's duel!" They both said in unison as they both drew five cards and their life points were both set to 4000.


	7. Chapter 7: Grappling with a Guardian

Chapter 7- Grappling with a Guardian

"Alright, I'll make the first move." Raphael began as he drew a card. "I lay one card facedown and one monster facedown in defense mode. That'll end my turn." Raphael concluded quickly. "That's all? Alright, then this may be a good opportunity to gain the upper hand." Kristiann hoped as she drew a card. "And I'll do so by summoning my Gemini Elf in attack mode!" Kristiann called as her female spell casters emerged with 1900 attack and 900 defense. "Now, Gemini Elf, attack Raphael's defense monster!" Kristiann commanded as her elves shot a blast of magic power at Raphael's monster. "That's too bad, because you've attacked my Backup Gardna! And since his defense is stronger than your monster's attack points, you lose life points." Raphael explained as his monster revealed itself with 500 attack and 2200 defense and blocked Kristiann's attack. Then her life points dropped to 3700.

"Alright, in that case, I end my turn." Kristiann concluded. "Alright then, it's my turn again." Raphael began as he drew a card. "And now I activate the magic card Guardian Treasure. All I have to do is discard the five cards in my hand and I can draw two cards from my deck. Then every turn after this, I can draw two cards at the start of my turn as opposed to one." Raphael explained as he activated his magic card. "Now I activate the equip card Gravity Axe and equip it to my Backup Gardna, increasing his attack power by 500." Raphael explained as his monster wielded a huge axe and its attack power rose to 1000. "But your monster is still pretty weak, why would you waste your Gravity Axe on him?" Kristiann questioned. "It looks like you still have a lot to learn about my guardian monsters. You see, they can only be summoned to the field if their respective equip magic card is also on the field. And now that my Gravity Axe is on the field, I can automatically summon my Guardian Grarl!" Raphael explained as his huge dinosaur monster emerged with 2500 attack and 1000 defense.

"But that's not all because my Backup Gardna also has a special ability: it can transfer one equip magic card attached to him to another one of my monsters. So now I'll switch my Gravity Axe over to my Guardian Grarl!" Raphael explained as his Gardna threw its axe to Grarl, who caught it and wielded it impressively, increasing his attack to 3000 and reducing Backup Gardna's back to 500. "Now, Guardian Grarl attack Gemini Elf with axe slam attack!" Raphael commanded as his beast smashed Kristiann's monster, destroying it and reducing her life points to 2600. "That'll end my turn for now." Raphael concluded mercifully.

"Alright, this guardian guy is tough, but I know I can beat him if I really focus." Kristiann thought to herself as she drew a card. "I summon one monster facedown in defense mode and lay one card facedown. That'll end my turn." Kristiann concluded. "Remember, now I draw two cards instead of one due to the effect of my Guardian Treasure magic card." Raphael reminded as he drew two cards. "I lay one card facedown on the field and then I'll attack your facedown monster with my Guardian Grarl!" Raphael stated as his monster charged at Kristiann's and ripped the card apart with its axe. "You may have destroyed my Messenger Penguin, but by destroying it, you've activated its special ability, letting my move one level 4 or less water monster from my deck to my hand." Kristiann explained as she shuffled her deck after searching it.

"That's fine. I set one more monster facedown in defense mode and then I end my turn." Raphael concluded. "Alright, then let's make it work." Kristiann said as she drew a card. "First off I'll set this monster facedown in defense mode." Kristiann began. "And then I play one more card facedown before ending my turn." She then concluded. "I can feel it, the end is near." Raphael said ominously as he drew his two cards. "And this is exactly the card I was looking for. You see there is yet another rule among the guardians of the Nightmare Shards that you might not know about. Each one of us has a very special and a very powerful card; a card Master Yami himself uses to capture the very souls of his enemies." Raphael said coldly as he stared at one of the cards in his hand. "Oh no, it can't be!" Kristiann exclaimed in fear from the other side of the arena. "But it is and I activate this card now, the card that steals souls and feeds power to Master Yami. I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!" Raphael shouted as he slipped the card into his duel disk and all hell broke loose.


	8. Chapter 8: The Dark Wings of Eatos

Chapter 8- The Dark Wings of Eatos

The sky suddenly grew darker as the Seal of Orichalcos spread across the entire dueling field, trapping Kristiann and Raphael in its dark clutches. Darkness also swirled around Raphael as the symbol of the Seal also appeared on his forehead. "The Seal of Orichalcos raises the stakes of this duel to a level you can scarce imagine. Now whoever loses this duel also loses their soul." Raphael said darkly. "But that's not all the Seal does for me. It also increases the attack and defense power of my monsters by 500." Raphael added as his Backup Gardna received the symbol of the Seal on his forehead and his stats rose to 1000 attack and 2700 defense. Guardian Grarl also received the same symbol and his stats rose to 3500 attack and 1500 defense. "And now I'll reveal my facedown monster and slip him into attack mode. Go Arsenal Summoner!" Raphael revealed as his cloaked magician emerged with 1600 attack and defense that was soon boosted as it received the power of the Orichalcos, raising its stats to 2100. "And my Arsenal Summoner has a special ability: whenever it is flipped summoned, I can search my deck for one guardian monster and add it to my hand." Raphael explained as he reshuffled his deck.

"Now I also activate the magic of Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards from my deck." Raphael added as he drew his cards. "Now I can activate another equip magic card that lets me summon another guardian monster. Go Wicked-Breaking Flamberge- Baou, which allows me to summon Guardian Baou in attack mode!" Raphael then called as his dark fiend emerged with a combined total of 1800 attack and 900 defense. "No, now Kristiann only has a defense monster to stand up against three of Raphael's monsters! But I know she's got plan for something." James said somewhat worriedly from the nearby window.

"Now it's time for all my monsters to attack. Go Guardian Baou, attack Kristiann's defense monster with dark blade smash!" Raphael commanded as his fiend raced forward and ripped apart Kristiann's monster with its blade. The card flashed briefly of an armed penguin, but then it disappeared on impact. "Your Penguin Soldier may have a special ability, but it becomes useless if it's destroyed by my Guardian Baou. When he destroys an effect monster, that effect is negated before it can take hold." Raphael explained. "Also whenever Guardian Baou destroys a monster, his attack power increases by 1000." Raphael added as his guardian's attack power rose to 2800. "And it's my Guardian Grarl's turn to attack. Go Guardian Grarl, attack Kristiann's life points directly!" Raphael commanded as his guardian charged Kristiann with its massive axe.

"I'm not going down that easily. I activate my trap card Blinding Light! This card automatically ends your battle phase and allows me to summon one light monster directly from my hand, no matter its level." Kristiann explained as Grarl's attack was negated with a huge flash of light. "Now I can summon my most favorite monster: Shining Arctic Queen in attack mode!" Kristiann called out as her beautiful queen appeared with 2800 attack and 1500 defense. "I end my turn." Raphael concluded unemotionally.

"Alright then now it's time for me to take back this duel." Kristiann said as she drew a card. "And now I'll summon another monster to the field in attack mode: my Shining Angel!" Kristiann called as her angel monster appeared with 1400 attack and 800 defense. "Next I activate the magic card Essence of Light. This card increases the attack power of all light monsters on my side of the field by 500. It also allows me to draw out a dark monster from my deck and special summon it to my side of the field as a light monster." Kristiann explained as her magic card allowed her to call forth a monster from the dark. "So now, come into the light my Vampire Lord in attack mode!" Kristiann called as her vampire appeared with 2000 attack and 1500 defense. But then, due to the effects of the magic card, all of her monsters gained 500 attack: 3300 attack points for Shining Arctic Queen, 1900 for Shining Angel, and 2500 for the new Vampire Lord. "But that's not all because now that my Vampire Lord is on the field, I can activate this magic card: Vampire Control. Now all I have to do is give up 1000 of my life points and I can destroy all monsters on your side of the field." Kristiann explained as her life points dropped to 1600 and her vampire began to glow with energy.

"I'm afraid I can't let that happen. I activate my trap card Guardian Force! As long as there are no guardian monsters in my graveyard, this trap card can negate your magic card and destroy it." Raphael countered as Kristiann's vampire stopped glowing. "Hmm, that may delay me a bit, but I can still attack with my monsters. Go Vampire Lord, attack Arsenal Summoner!" Kristiann commanded as her vampire shot a blast of bats at Raphael's monster, destroying it and bringing his life points down to 3600. "And since my Vampire Lord did damage to your life points, you have to discard one magic card from your deck directly to the graveyard." Kristiann explained as Raphael discarded one magic card from his deck.

"And now, Shining Arctic Queen, attack Guardian Baou!" Kristiann then commanded. "Nice try, but your last move helped me out perfectly!" Raphael laughed as a card came out of his graveyard and Kristiann's attack was negated. "You see, my Rescuer from the Grave magic card can only be activated from the graveyard. It negates your attack, but first I have to remove five cards from my graveyard from play." Raphael explained. "Fine then, I lay one card facedown and end my turn." Kristiann concluded.

"Alright then, here it is!" Raphael said dramatically as he drew two cards. "Just as I sensed, my strongest and most loyal monster is now in my hand. And I'm about to summon it to the field." Raphael said ominously as he admired his card for a moment. "You may have tremendous purity and light, but this card is the embodiment of the light. And now it's about to be used against you. I activate Celestial Sword- Eatos, which now allows me to summon Guardian Eatos to the field!" Raphael said as he lifted up his arm to the sky and a great dove flew up to the above clouds from his duel disk. Then with a flash of light against the twilight sky, a bright sword fell and Raphael's precious guardian emerged from the clouds with pure wings and an overall angelic aura.

Guardian Eatos floated there for a moment, reveling in the purity and light, but then it grabbed its head and shrieked in pain. Immediately, its wings became black and it gained the symbol of the Seal of Orichalcos on its forehead, increasing its stats to 3000 attack and 2500 defense. "Raphael, can't you see what you've done?! You've taken the essence of purity and light and transformed it into something dark and evil!" Kristiann exclaimed. "That's exactly what I've done and I don't regret it at all." Raphael responded coldly. "Now, my Guardian Eatos, use the special power of your Celestial Sword and absorb the power of the monsters in Kristiann's graveyard." Raphael commanded as his now dark angel grabbed the sword and raised it into the air. Because of the magic aura radiating from it, Kristiann was forced to raise her arm and little orbs of her monsters flew from her graveyard and into Eatos' sword, raising its attack power to 6250. "You see, my Guardian Eatos can absorb the attack power of all monsters in your graveyard as long as it holds its Celestial Sword, making it virtually invincible." Raphael explained.

"Now, Guardian Eatos, attack her Vampire Lord and end this duel now!" Raphael commanded. "Not so fast, I'm not giving in that easily! I activate my trap card Pikeru's Circle of Enchantment! Even though your monster still can destroy mine, I don't take any damage to my life points." Kristiann countered as her vampire was still ripped apart by the blast of light energy shot out of Eatos' sword. "That doesn't matter, since your Vampire Lord is now in your graveyard, Guardian Eatos can also absorb its power as well." Raphael explained as Eatos' power rose to 8250. "I lay one last card facedown and end my turn." Raphael concluded. "All right, it's now or never." Kristiann said dramatically as she drew a card. "And this is just the card I needed. Raphael, your Guardian Eatos is not invincible and I'll prove it now. I activate the magic card Arctic Beauty! I can only activate this card when my Shining Arctic Queen is on the field, but it has a very special ability." Kristiann began. "First off, I can search my deck for an equip card of my own and equip it to my Arctic Queen, but then it allows me to destroy one equip magic card equipped to one of your monsters." Kristiann explained. "And I choose the magic card Black Pendent!" Kristiann revealed as her Queen now wore the special necklace, increasing its attack power to 3800.

"But more importantly, now I can destroy one of your equip magic cards. And I choose to destroy Guardian Eatos' Celestial Sword, brining its attack power back down to 3000!" Kristiann exclaimed as Eatos' sword disappeared just as she said. "Now my Arctic Queen has enough attack power to destroy your Guardian, so go, Shining Arctic Queen, attack and destroy Guardian Eatos!" Kristiann commanded. "You think I'd let go of my precious Guardian that easily? Well you're wrong, because I activate the trap card Reversal of Guardianship. And here's how it works: I choose one monster and one magic card from my deck and shuffle it in with my trap card. Then you have to guess which one of these three cards is the one I tell you. If you guess wrong then your attack is negated." Raphael explained as he laid the three cards facedown on the field. "Now, find the monster card." Raphael commanded. "I choose the card on the left." Kristiann told him after she had thought for a moment about it. Raphael showed an expression of total shock as he revealed the card to be Guardian Kay'est, his monster card. "In that case, your Guardian will be destroyed. Shining Arctic Queen, finish it!" Kristiann urged as her queen shot a beam of arctic light energy at Eatos, nailing it head on and destroying it in a flash of light. Raphael looked on in total horror as his guardian was no more and his life points dropped to 2800.

"There you have it, Raphael, maybe now you've learned not to mess with the forces of light." Kristiann offered. "You fool… Light would not even be able to exist without shadow. And you may take this as a small victory, but I assure you this was all part of my plan. You see, unlike the events of this arena portrayed, I don't need purity and light anymore, now that, as guardian of darkness, I have allied myself with darkness. And now you are about to be made aware of true darkness." Raphael said coldly and ominously as the sun dipped below the horizon in the distance. All around Raphael a swirl of dark powers from the Orichalcos surrounded him and the symbol on his forehead began to glow more drastically. Suddenly then, a crevice opened up on the floor of the dueling area and a dark mist began to pour out. "So tell me, Kristiann, do you fear the reaper?" Raphael asked demonically as a masked head began to creep out from the depths of the hole.


	9. Chapter 9: Don't Fear the Reaper

Chapter 9- Don't Fear the Reaper

"Now be ready to experience true fear at the hands of my strongest guardian." Raphael taunted as the masked zombie emerged from the depths of the earth beneath the dueling arena. "Behold, Guardian Dreadscythe!" Raphael exclaimed as the reaper-like zombie fully emerged with 3000 attack and 2500 defense thanks to the Seal of Orichalcos. "But that's not the full terror of my dark guardian because when he's summoned to the field I can automatically equip Reaper Scythe- Dreadsycthe to him from my graveyard and it comes with a very special ability. As soon as I equip it Guardian Dreadsycthe gains 500 attack points for every monster in my graveyard." Raphael explained as a massive scythe rose out of the ground and Guardian Dreadscythe grabbed it, raising its attack power to 4000. "Well that's not so bad, that's only an extra 500 attack points." Kristiann commented. "That's where you're wrong. You see, my Reaper Scythe magic card also allows me to destroy all other monsters on my side of the field and send them straight to the graveyard." Raphael added as all his others monsters were destroyed and Dreadsycthe's power rose to 5500. "Unfortunately my Reaper Scythe also forces my monster into defense mode, so you're off the hook for now. I lay one card facedown and then I end my turn." Raphael concluded as Dreadscythe switched to defense mode.

"Well that's a relief, one turn to win this." Kristiann sighed as a cold winter breeze blew across the newly nighttime sky. "Alright, well here goes, Shining Arctic Queen, attack Guardian Dreadscythe with arctic storm attack!" She commanded as her queen let loose a flurry of majestic energy. "Your Guardian may have the best offense, but since it's in defense mode, it doesn't stand a chance." Kristiann remarked as her attack consumed Guardian Dreadscythe. But Raphael simply smiled as the storm cleared and Guardian Dreadscythe was still standing. "But what…?" Kristiann trailed off. "Guardian Dreadscythe is too strong to be destroyed by a simple attack like that. Every time he is destroyed in battle, all I have to do is discard one card from my hand and I can bring him back." Raphael said as the only card in his card disappeared. "Alright, I'll lay one card facedown and switch my Shining Angel to defense mode. That ends my turn." Kristiann concluded.

"Fine then it's time to pick up from where I left off last turn." Raphael stated as he drew two cards. "First I activate the magic of Graceful Charity. This lets me draw three cards as long as I discard two. And since one of the cards I'm discarding is my Guardian Elma, my Guardian Dreadscythe gains an extra 500 attack points." Raphael explained as his dark guardian's attack power rose to 6000. "Now I activate my facedown trap card Spirit Hunting. Not only does this card switch my Guardian Dreadscythe back into attack mode, but it also destroys all defense monsters you have on your side of the field." Raphael explained as Kristiann's Shining Angel was destroyed. "Now, Guardian Dreadscythe, attack Shining Arctic Queen and end this duel now!" Raphael commanded as his reaper rushed forward and raised its scythe high in an attack.

"Not so fast, I activate my facedown trap card Mirror Wall. This card cuts the attack power of your monster in half before damage is calculated, making your monster weaker than mine!" Kristiann exclaimed as a huge wall of mirrors rose up and Guardian Dreadscythe slashed it instead, dropping its attack power to 3000. Then the wall came down and Shining Arctic Queen stabbed Guardian Dreadscythe with its scepter, throwing it back and reducing Raphael's life points to 2000. "That's it! That's the secret to beating this guy!" Kristiann thought excitingly to herself. "Alright, it looks like Kristiann realizes the secret to winning this duel. While she might not be able to destroy Guardian Dreadscythe directly, she can still do damage to Raphael's life points." James thought to himself from his balcony view from the nearby window. "Kristiann, please win, I know you can do it." James whispered to himself as he bowed his head in a prayer-like fashion.

"Your trap card means nothing to me because you can't destroy my Guardian all I have to do is discard another card and he remains very much alive. So do your worst it won't help, and next turn, not only will my reaper claim your monster, but my Seal of Orichalcos will reap your soul." Raphael said dramatically as he ended his turn. "Alright then it's now or never. I know I can beat him right here and now, but I have to draw the right card." Kristiann thought to herself as she drew a card and looked at it. "Well this will certainly help." She thought as she breathed in and out. "First off my Mirror Wall trap is destroyed because I don't have enough life points to maintain it." Kristiann explained as her trap card shattered. "And now I play the magic card Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards." She then explained as her hand paused for a moment before drawing her cards. "Come on…" She thought to herself and then looked in happy surprise and she looked at the two cards she drew.

"This is it, Raphael, this madness ends here." Kristiann said calmly to him, though it was apparent she was excited at what she just drew. "First I activate the magic of Monster Reborn to bring back an old friend of yours: Guardian Eatos!" Kristiann exclaimed as a ray of light fell from the sky and Guardian Eatos remerged on the field with its original powers of light and attack strength of 2500 attack and 2000 defense. "But by brining him back, I also weaken the power of your Guardian because you have one less monster in the graveyard." Kristiann then explained as Guardian Dreadscythe's power dropped to 5500.

"So, what does that matter? My Guardian is still too strong for you!" Raphael exclaimed back. "That may be so for now, but not after I activate this magic card: Soul Release! This lets me remove from play five cards from your graveyard. And I choose Guardian Grarl, Guardian Baou, Backup Gardna, Guardian Elma, and Guardian Kay'est, thus cleaning out your graveyard, fully weakening your Guardian." Kristiann explained as the five monsters she called out all rose out of Raphael's duel disk and floated above him before fading away. As Raphael watched in disbelief, Guardian Dreadscythe's attack power dropped back down to 3000. "But… you still can't win here…" Raphael finally started to crack. "That's not true because I have one last card left to win this duel right here and right now. I activate Gift of the Martyr. This magic card lets me sacrifice one of my monsters in order to increase another's by the same amount as the sacrificed monsters attack points." Kristiann explained as Raphael looked in shock and he realized the end was coming. "And I sacrifice my Shining Arctic Queen in order to boost up the power of the true essence of purity and light, Guardian Eatos." Kristiann explained as her Queen disappeared and Eatos' attack power rose to 6300.

"Now, Guardian Eatos, attack Guardian Dreadscythe and end this duel now!" Kristiann shouted as Guardian Eatos raised its hand and let loose a charge of pure light energy that ripped right through Guardian Dreadscythe. From the inferno of light surrounding Raphael's dark guardian, Raphael looked in fear and disbelief and the power before him. "No, the darkness… the reaper!" Raphael exclaimed as the light blazed around him, brining his life points at last down to 0.


	10. Chapter 10: A Failed Guardian

Chapter 10- A Failed Guardian

"Alright! She did it!" James exclaimed loudly as Kristiann turned towards the window and gave him a quick thumbs up. "No, this can't be… my guardians were unbeatable!" Raphael exclaimed in fear as the Seal of Orichalcos began to close in around him. "Well it is, because I just beat you. Now hand over the Nightmare Shard, Raphael." Kristiann demanded as she walked over to where Raphael was now kneeling on one knee. "Yes, as much as I don't want to believe it, you did win, fair and square. And as per code of the guardians, not only do I have to give up the Nightmare Shard, but this rare card is all yours too. Use it well, essence of purity and light." Raphael explained as he tossed Kristiann the Guardian Eatos card. She caught it and looked at it for a moment before returning her gaze to Raphael. "I'm sorry, Master Yami, I did my best." Raphael practically whispered as the Seal fully closed in on him and he was engulfed in a green light. When the light show had ended, the Seal of Orichalcos was gone and Raphael began to fall to the ground soulless. But before his body hit the ground, it began to sparkle with little flashes before it totally disappeared, leaving only the necklace with the Nightmare Shard in his place.

"He's gone I guess." Kristiann stated as she bent down to pick up the Nightmare Shard. "Hey, Kristiann!" James called as he opened the window and took a leap of faith towards the window. "Look out!" Kristiann exclaimed as James barely grabbed the edge of the roof and pulled himself up. "You crazy guy." Kristiann sighed lovingly as James ran up to her. "Good job out there, you really got him good." James commented as he embraced his beloved. "Thanks, I did my best." Kristiann whispered back and they stopped embracing and got down to business. "So that's the Nightmare Shard, hunh?" James asked though he already knew the answer. "Yea, it's strange though, it's not the same color that it was before." Kristiann commented as she held the Shard in her hand. It was true, the Shard was now a solid color, but a very pale purple as opposed to the vibrant, pulsing purple and green as before.

"Maybe now that the guardian's been defeated we've already knocked out some of Yami's power." James suggested. "Maybe, yea probably. That gets me too; Raphael just kinda disappeared without a trace after our duel." Kristiann stated. "Yea you're right. I think it's because he didn't really have a physical form, he was just a reflection of the Nightmare Shard." James suggested. "Then how is his card so real?" Kristiann asked as she held up the Guardian Eatos card she just received. "I really don't know, I guess we'll learn all these kinds of things as our quest goes on." James offered. "Yea I guess you're right. But for now I know exactly what we need to do. Do you want the honors?" Kristiann asked as she offered him the Shard. "Nope, it's all you, my lady." James declined. "Alright, here goes then!" Kristiann exclaimed as she threw the pale Nightmare Shard to the ground, which shattered instantly on contact. "Alright, two down, only five more to go!" James exclaimed happily. "But first things first: let's get off this roof." James then added with a laugh and the two headed home.

They decided that since all of James' family had been taken by the Orichalcos, it would be a shame to let the empty house go to waste, so they both spent the night alone in James' house. "I gotta say, it is pretty nice just having the whole house to ourselves." James commented as the two laid there in the master bedroom. "I agree, I'm just surprised my parents agreed." Kristiann responded. "Yea, I guess they figure I'm all emotionally stressed and stuff. I'm not too surprised, after all they let us go to Kaiba Land together that one time." James replied. "Yea, I guess you're right. Well we've had a long day and we do have school tomorrow, so we should probably get some sleep. Especially since we want to go see Sheik early tomorrow morning." Kristiann commented. "Yea, you're right, I'm pretty tired myself." James replied with a yawn. "Alright, good night then baby. I love you." Kristiann said lovingly. "Good night, I love you too." James replied as he kissed her and then cuddled with her for the remainder of the night.

Very early the next morning, after James and Kristiann had fully gotten ready for school, they stopped at Owney Park before driving to school. "Sheik, you around here?" James called aloud. Suddenly, a figure dropped down from a tree branch above them. "James, Kristiann, I'm glad to see you both. You have successfully destroyed the second Nightmare Shard." Sheik stated as the couple turned around to face him. "Yea, I had to duel this guardian guy Raphael. Sheik, do you know anything about the guardians?" Kristiann asked. "Hmm, I do not know much, only that they will only get tougher and smarter from here on out." Sheik replied ominously. "Well I kinda figured that one out. What kind of quest would this be if we took out the strongest first? But I know no matter what, we can beat him if we work together." James said with confidence. "That's right. Believe in yourselves and you can never fail." Sheik replied with affirmation.

"Sheik, I gotta ask you though, do you know where the next Shard is located?" Kristiann asked the mysterious ninja. "No, but I can quickly find out for you." Sheik replied as he focused his energy on the eye on his chest. Like before, an orb of light formed and then disappeared. "I see a school, though not the one you are heading to now. This one is smaller and has a church building near it. The words on the sign read… Bishop Larkin Catholic School. I assume this helps you." Sheik relayed the vision. "Of course I know exactly where to go! That's my old middle school! Figures there would be a Shard there. You know I really hated that place." James told them. "And that is exactly why the Shard is hidden there. It is a place of great darkness for you, James please be careful." Sheik cautioned. "We will, no doubt. But now I think we gotta go. We're gonna be late!" Kristiann urged. "Yea, she's right, see you later Sheik. Thank you for everything." James called as they both ran for the car. "Goodbye, and good luck." Sheik said to them, but they had already gone, one the road to a day in school before a return trip to another.


	11. Chapter 11: The New Kid on the Block

Chapter 11- The New Kid on the Block

"Alright, class, today we are going to learn all about the human skeletal system, or something like that. Man, why did I have to get stuck teaching anatomy this year?" Mrs. Philips said frustratingly from the head of the classroom where James and Kristiann were sitting. It was about halfway through the morning and the two were sitting in anatomy class, much to the dismay of their teacher Mrs. Philips, who really hated anatomy, but was stuck teaching it this year. "I was wondering the same thing. I kinda got stuck in this class too." A blond boy next to James said to him. This boy with thin blonde hair and blue eyes was Daniel, one of James' best friends from middle school. James was about to answer him when a knock came from the door of the classroom. "Come in… oh Mr. Conway, what's up?" Mrs. Philips asked semi-politely as the vice principal strode into the room.

"If I could just have a minute with the class here Jill?" Mr. Conway asked the science teacher. "Of course." She replied as Mr. Conway walked all the way into the room. Following him was a boy dressed completely in gray. He had perfectly straight blue-black hair and deep dark blue eyes. "Everyone, we have a new student here with us from now on and he'll be in this class. His name is Ken and I hope you all treat him very kindly." Mr. Conway addressed the class. Everyone in the class shouted a greeting, but Ken simply stood there with a blasé look on his face. "Very good. Ken, please take a seat wherever there is room and please enjoy your first day here at Bishop McLaughlin!" Mr. Conway said cheerfully as he exited the room.

"So, Ken is it? Please, have a seat wherever you wish." Mrs. Philips told the new student. "Thank you." He said calmly and then took a seat in the back of the classroom right behind James. "Hey, Ken, my name is James how are you doin'?" James greeted cheerfully as he turned around. "James, turn around and pay attention!" Mrs. Philips snapped at him before Ken could answer. Ken simply smiled and the class resumed.

After the bell had rung, much to the relief of Mrs. Philips, the class filtered out of the classroom and into the hallway. "So as I was saying before, I'm James, welcome to the school!" James said cheerfully as he reached out to shake Ken's hand. "Thank you, it's good to be here." Ken replied as he resumed walking without returning the gesture. "You know, there's something I just don't like about that guy." Daniel stated. "I'm sure he's a nice guy, just a little shy is all." Kristiann offered. "I don't know, but I just don't like him." Daniel said as he walked off. "Well, whatever I guess we'll run into Ken at some point or another again. Maybe he is just shy. Anyways, it's back to class! We'd better hurry or we'll be late!" James suggested as the pair ran off to their next class.

After all the classes of the day were done, James and Kristiann met Daniel at the courtyard in the middle of the school for their dueling club meeting. "Welcome back everyone, I hope you all had a good weekend, but now it's time to get into some dueling action." Mr. Gonzalez, the bald leader of the club, opened the meeting, much to the happiness of James, Kristiann, Daniel, and all the other duelist students. "And to start the week, I want to introduce a new member to our club. He just entered the school today, so we have yet to see his abilities, so watch out. Dueling Club, meet Ken, our newest member!" Mr. Gonzalez introduced as Ken walked out from behind him. "Hmph, it's that guy again." Daniel grumbled. "Daniel, do you have something to say to our new member. Actually, I think it would be a good idea to have a little duel to fully welcome Ken here. And Daniel, I want you to be his opponent." Mr. Gonzalez stated. "Why me?!" Daniel protested. "What's the matter? Are you afraid of my superior abilities?" Ken taunted almost too calmly. "No, I just don't really like you. That's why I will beat you in this duel. Game on!" Daniel said as he activated his duel disk. The rest of the club stepped aside to allow room for the duel in the spacious courtyard. Without saying a word, Ken also activated his duel disk. "Alright, you guys ready? Begin!" Mr. Gonzalez shouted. "Let's duel!" The two said at the same time as their life points were set to 4000 and they drew their opening hand.

"I think I'll start us off." Daniel said as he drew a card. "And I'll do so by summoning my Flame Manipulator in defense mode." He said as his fire spellcaster emerged with 900 attack and 1000 defense. "Then I'll lay one card facedown and end my turn." Daniel then concluded. "That's all? Perhaps I overestimated your so called skills." Ken said calmly as he drew a card. "First I summon my Warrior of the Dark Ocean in attack mode." Ken began as his dark aquatic warrior emerged with 1700 attack and 1400 defense. "And when my Warrior is summoned, I can move one Dark Ocean card directly to my hand. Then I activate my Dark Ocean field spell card." Ken explained as the sky grew foggy and a black ocean appeared across the field. "What is this?" Daniel asked. "This card? It's a very powerful field spell card that increases the attack power of all water and dark monsters, but decreases the attack power of any other attribute monsters by 500 respectively." Ken explained as his Warrior's attack power rose to 2200. "Now, Warrior, attack Flame Manipulator." Ken commanded as his warrior ripped apart Daniel's monster. "Wait, I activate my trap card Michizure! This card automatically destroys your monster since you destroyed one of mine." Daniel countered. "That's not the case. As long as my Dark Ocean is in play all water and dark monsters are not affected by magic or trap cards." Ken replied with a sinister smile.

"But that is not the end of my turn. Now I activate my magic card Dark Ocean Virus. As long as this card remains on the field, at the end of every turn, you receive 1000 damage to your life points for each of your monsters that is destroyed, as long as Dark Ocean is on the field." Ken explained as he also laid a facedown card. "That ends my turn, which gives you 1000 points of damage." Ken said as Daniel's life points went down to 3000. "Is that all you got? I'll get you back for that!" Daniel shouted as he drew a card. "I summon my Darkfire Soldier #1 in attack mode!" Daniel said as his fire soldier emerged with 1700 attack and 1150 defense. "But don't forget, your monster loses attack points because of my Dark Ocean." Ken reminded as Daniel's monster's attack points dropped to 1200. "I'm aware of that. But I have a plan." Daniel stated. "Well then allow me to ruin it. I activate my trap card, Dark Ocean's Eye. This forces your monster to attack me. It also increases the attack power of the monster you're attacking by 1000." Ken countered, much to Daniel's shock. His Darkfire Soldier attacked Ken's warrior, destroying it and reducing Daniel's life points to 1000.

"No… Alright, I have nothing else I can do." Daniel admitted. "Then did you forget? My Virus takes 1000 of your life points because you lost a monster. Game over." Ken smirked as Daniel's life points dropped to 0. The holograms faded and everyone applauded. "That was an excellent duel you two!" Mr. Gonzalez. "Next time, I want to face a real opponent, not one with a weak soul like yours." Ken said smugly as he walked off. "Wow, I wonder what his problem is, the jerk. Whatever." Daniel said as the meeting continued with some more duels and learning techniques.


	12. Chapter 12: The Second Guardian

Chapter 12- The Second Guardian

"Man, I really don't like that Ken guy!" Daniel exclaimed as he, Kristiann, and James walked out of the school building to head home. "Oh you're just mad because you lost." Kristiann commented. "Not only did you lose, but you lost pretty badly too!" James added with a joking smile. "Yea laugh it up!" Daniel shouted comically back. "And them he just walked away, like no even a 'good game' or whatever. He just ditched us!" Daniel then complained. "Oh, speaking of ditching, I'm going with Kristiann today." James told him, for he usually carpooled with Daniel in the afternoon. "What?! You're leaving me too?! Well whatever, good luck with whatever it is you have to do." Daniel replied as he walked towards his car. Likewise, Kristiann and James got into their car and buckled in. "You know where we're going right?" James asked to clarify. "Oh course I do, Bishop Larkin School." Kristiann answered as she started the car and headed off.

Almost all the way, James looked very serious and preoccupied. "James, is everything alright?" Kristiann asked. "Hunh? Yea, I'm fine. I'm just really pretty worried about the Shard at this place. After all, this was practically the place where Yami was created, so I'm sure the guardian is pretty strong." James explained. "Yea, but you're a good duelist, I'm sure you can take him. And if you can't, well, then you know I can duel, probably even better than you can no offense." Kristiann offered. "No. You already risked your soul dueling the first guardian. No, this time, I'm gonna take down whoever it is and destroy that shard. It's the least I could do to make things right again. After all, I pretty much started this whole mess." James said adamantly. "Baby, you didn't start anything. You can't blame yourself for what Yami's doing. Even if he is a part of you, that doesn't mean he's all of you. I believe in you and I know together we can take down this guardian, all the others, and even Yami himself. But we'll do it together, isn't that what you always say?" Kristiann encouraged. "You're right, but together means we take turns, so I'll face this guardian. Besides, this is my show, just like it was years ago…" James trailed off as Kristiann pulled her mini-van into the parking lot of the school.

"Hmm, that's weird, there are no other cars in this parking lot. And it looks like the school might be closed; all the lights are out." Kristiann offered and the two got out. "Yea, that is pretty odd, I didn't think they were off school today. And for no one to be here is pretty weird." James agreed as the two walked up to the front door. The front area of the school wasn't too ornate, just some bushes and flowers in front of the front double doors. James and Kristiann walked up to the door and tried to open it. "Well the front door is open at least. Let's head in and check it out." Kristiann suggested as the door swung open and the two walked into the front lobby, a simple room with a few pictures of graduating classes with another set of double doors leading into the main school. To the left of the doors was a counter that opened up to the front office.

"This is really strange, all the lights are out and it doesn't look like anyone is here." James pointed out. "Yea, I wonder if these doors are open." Kristiann asked as she tried the second set of double doors, which opened without a hitch. "I'll take that as a yes. Let's go." James stated as the two walked in. The shape of the school was a practical V, so the front entrance split into two almost identical hallways, one for elementary students, and one for middle school students. "Which way should we go?" Kristiann asked the expert on the place. "Well considering I really only hated this place in middle school, I think the Shard would probably be in the right wing." James suggested as they two started walking that way. As they walked down the hallway, James' eyes shifted all over the place, taking in the sights and looking for the Nightmare Shard supposedly hidden there. "Are you okay?" Kristiann asked again in response to James' altogether nervous air. "Yea, I'm fine, let's just find that Shard." James replied. The hallway was not lit at all by electricity, but sunlight poured through windows in the ceiling.

It didn't take long for the pair to get to the end of the hallway where another set of double doors awaited them. "That's so weird, there's no one here and no Shard in sight. Maybe it's in one of the classrooms…" Kristiann began to say but was interrupted by all the lights in the hallway suddenly coming on. James and Kristiann turned around in surprise and heard a mocking evil laughter. Then, from one of the classrooms, stepped a young man with crimson red hair and a gray shirt with black pants. He also wore a black trench coat with various gray straps on it and a chaos duel disk over his left arm. His eyes were the same gray color as his shirt. He was smiling darkly as he faced James and Kristiann. "You must be the guardian of the Nightmare Shard!" James exclaimed. "How very perceptive of you, James! The name's Alister. Does this answer your question?" The man asked mockingly as he grabbed the swirling purple stone around his neck.

"You are the guardian! In that case I challenge you to a duel for the Nightmare Shard!" James exclaimed as he raised the arm with his duel disk on it and activated it. "Now don't be so hasty James, you just might get yourself hurt." Alister laughed. "But if it's a duel you want then I'll be more than happy to take your soul. Believe me, you'll suffer dearly for all that you've done here." Alister agreed as he also activated his duel disk. "James, be careful, we don't know what this guy is capable of, but I'm sure he has that Seal of Orichalcos card." Kristiann cautioned. "Don't worry, I can take him." James replied confidently. "Fine then, from one passionate hater to another…" Alister began as both of them set their life points to 4000 and drew their opening hand. "Let's duel!" They both said in unison, signaling the start of the second guardian duel.


	13. Chapter 13: Trial by Fire

Chapter 13- Trial by Fire

"I'll make the first move." Alister said as he drew a card. "I summon my Cyber Soldier of Darkworld in defense mode." Alister began as his mechanical monster appeared on the field with 1400 attack and 1200 defense. "Then I'll lay one card facedown and end my turn. It's your move, passionate hater." Alister said mockingly. "Alister, I know I've done much wrong in the past, but that was the past and now it's all over." James replied. "Ha, James, how many times are you going to use that speech? That's great and all, the whole past being the past thing, but don't you think we don't already know that? I'm not here to prove your darkness, I'm here to take you down in that same darkness." Alister replied with a laugh. "Well then I'm sorry to disappoint you, because you won't be winning here. Look out!" James replied confidently as he drew a card.

"It's time to show you Alister just how much I've changed in the past year. And I'll start by introducing some of my newer cards. I summon Bountiful Artemis in attack mode!" James called out as his winged creature appeared with 1600 attack and 1700 defense. "Now, Bountiful Artemis attack Alister's soldier with heaven's slash attack!" James commanded as his fairy flew forward and ripped apart Alister's monster. "That's very cute and all, but since my monster was in defense mode, I don't lose any life points. Not only that but you've activated my trap card: Call for Reinforcements! This card lets me summon another monster with soldier in its name whenever my soldier monster on the field is destroyed. So now I'll summon my Dark Flames Soldier in attack mode." Alister said as his fire solider appeared on the field with 1400 attack and 1500 defense.

"That's not a problem, my Bountiful Artemis is much stronger than your monster." James replied. "That may be for now, but my Solider has a special ability: whenever he's special summoned from my deck, I can add one fire monster or one normal magic card from my deck to my hand. And I think I'll choose one magic card." Alister explained as he took the card and reshuffled his deck. "Well I guess there's nothing else I can do. I'll lay this card facedown and end my turn." James concluded.

"Excellent, now it's my turn." Alister said as he drew a card. "And now it's time to rewrite the terms of this duel and this card will do just that. I activate Terraforming, which allows me to take one field spell card and add it to my hand." Alister said as he reshuffled his deck. "Field spell? Oh no!" Kristiann exclaimed in realization as to the card Alister searched for. "Judging by your fearful exclamation, I'm sure you know what card I have in my hand." Alister said almost in admiration as he stared at the card in his hand. "This card… it embodies the ultimate darkness, the very essence of hate that resides in you and me and all mankind. And more than that, it's mine to control. I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!" Alister exclaimed as he held the card up high before sliding it into his duel disk. From the moment he did, a green light radiated from his feet and the cursed circle expanded from his floor and encompassed the space of the entire dueling arena.

"Going up." Alister added as the two duelists and their monsters were levitated and found solid ground again on the roof. "James! Good luck!" Kristiann shouted as the roof reappeared and out of sight from her. "Alister I hope you know what you've just done!" James exclaimed in response to Alister's evil laughter. "I know exactly what I've done. The question is, what am I going to do to you?" Alister replied as he gained the symbol of the Seal on his forehead. Similarly, Alister's Soldier also gained the symbol and had its attack and defense boosted to 1900 and 2000 respectively.

"But the fun doesn't end there. Next I summon my Gorlag in attack mode!" Alister added as his fiery fiend arose with 1000 attack and defense, boosted both to 1500 by the power of the Seal of Orichalcos. "My Gorlag gains an extra 500 attack points for every fire monster on my side of the field, including itself." Alister explained as his fiend's attack points rose to 2500. "So tell me James, how does it feel to stare into the fires of your destruction? And especially on such an appropriate arena. Just think, this is the same place that you not only created our hate, but also fought against it. But you're right, the past is past. And in the present, I'm going to let the inferno consume you! Gorlag, attack Bountiful Artemis!" Alister commanded as his fiend reared its head back to blow fire at James' monster.

"Not so fast, Alister! I activate my trap card Negate Attack. This blocks all of your attacks for this turn and ends your battle phase." James countered as Gorlag's flames were consumed by a magical shield. "And not only that, because of Bountiful Artemis' special ability, I get to draw one card from my deck." James added as he drew a card. "It doesn't matter how many cards you draw, the outcome will still be the same. You're going down in flames, and this time, there's no one to save you!" Alister shouted as his monsters stared menacingly at their soon to be prey.


	14. Chapter 14: Essence of the Dark Flames

Chapter 14- Essence of the Dark Flames

"This isn't over yet Alister." James said as he began his turn by drawing a card. "I summon my Rocket Warrior in attack mode!" James called as his rocket-shaped knight arose with 1500 attack and 1300 defense. "Now, Rocket Warrior, attack Dark Flames Soldier!" James commanded as his monster boosted forward towards Alister's soldier. "Why would you do that, you're Rocket Warrior has less attack points than my Soldier?" Alister asked loudly as James' warrior slammed into Alister's. "But my Rocket Warrior has a special ability: whenever it attacks a monster stronger than it, it doesn't take any damage, but reduces your monster's attack points by 500 until the end of the turn." James explained as his knight returned to his side of the field and Dark Flames Soldier returned to its original 1400 attack points. "Now it's vulnerable to the attack of my Bountiful Artemis. So go, Artemis and destroy Dark Flames Soldier!" James then commanded as his sky fairy rushed forward and slashed apart Alister's soldier, reducing his life points to 3800. "And because one of your fire monsters was destroyed, your Gorlag loses 500 attack points." James added as Gorlag's attack points dropped to 2000.

"But that's not all; next I activate my magic card Dungeon Complete. Since my Bountiful Artemis inflicted damage to your life points this turn, I can return it to my hand in order to special summon a stronger monster from my hand. So now, I'll do just that and summon Judge Man in attack mode!" James said as his club-wielding warrior appeared with 2200 attack and 1500 defense. "Even though my monster can't attack this turn, it's still strong enough to destroy your Gorlag next turn. But for now I'll lay this card facedown and end my turn." James concluded.

"You think you can beat my Gorlag with just one stronger monster? How dare you underestimate the darkness!" Alister exclaimed as he drew a card. "And obviously you don't know about my Gorlag's special ability. But first I'll use my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your facedown card." Alister said as his magic card ripped apart James' facedown trap. "And now with your defenses lowered, Gorlag destroy Rocket Warrior!" Alister commanded as his fiend blew a stream of flames at James' warrior, engulfing it in fire and destroying it, reducing James' life points to 3500. "And now it's time to activate that special ability I mentioned. Whenever Gorlag destroys one of your monsters, it becomes reborn on my side of the field as a creature of fire." Alister explained as Rocket Warrior emerged on Alister's side of the field with 2000 attack and 1800 defense points due to the Seal of Orichalcos.

"And now that I have another fire monster on my side of the field, Gorlag gains an extra 500 attack points." Alister added as Gorlag's attack power rose to 2500. "But even though my new Rocket Warrior can't attack your monster, I can still sacrifice him to summon an even better one. So now I sacrifice your puny Rocket Warrior in order to summon my Dark Flames Fiend in attack mode!" Alister called out as a pillar of fire heralded the entrance of his new fiery fiend that had 500 attack points and 1800 defense points. But due to the Seal of Orichalcos, it gained 500 points, making its new stats 1000 attack and 2300 defense.

"But why would you summon that monster in attack mode?" James asked confused. "It's called a special ability and my Dark Flames Fiend has quite the nice one. As long as it remains in attack mode on the field, I can do 500 damage to your life points at the end of both of our turns. It also forces each of your monsters to attack during your turn." Alister explained. "To end my turn I'll lay one card facedown. Your move, but don't forget now that I ended my turn you lose 500 life points." Alister reminded as James was engulfed in flames and his life points dropped to 3000. "Can't you take the heat, James? Good then, burn in my darkness!" Alister laughed as James looked in pain at his powerful rival.

Meanwhile…

"Oh no, things aren't looking good up there. I can see the flames from down here." Kristiann said to herself in worry as she saw fiery explosions from the rooftop windows. "I have to find a way to get to the roof. James needs me!" Kristiann said to herself defiantly as she looked around for a way up. When her eye caught a maintenance closet door with the stairs logo on the side, her hopes were lifted. She tried the door and found that it opened. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the stairway and she began her ascent to the rooftop arena.

Back on the roof…

"Alister, it doesn't end here. As long as I'm standing and have life points, I can still win this." James said defiantly as he drew a card. "First off, I summon my Scout Knight in attack mode." James called out as his knight on horseback arose with 1600 attack and 1300 defense. "Your Fiend may have a good effect, but he's still vulnerable to my attacks. So go, Scout Knight, attack Dark Flames Fiend with flag spear strike!" James commanded as his knight galloped towards Alister's Fiend. "You'd like to think he's vulnerable, but the truth is James, my monster is far from vulnerable. I activate my all-powerful trap card Essence of the Dark Flames!" Alister exclaimed as his trap activated. "As long as this card remains on the field, all I have to do is discard one fire or dark monster from my hand or field and I can negate your attack and destroy your monster. That's the nature of fire, James: total destruction!" Alister laughed as a wall of dark fire came between their two monsters. "So I just discard my Darkfire Soldier #2 and your Scout Knight is no more." Alister explained as James' monster was destroyed in the dark flames.

"You may have destroyed my Scout Knight, but now his special ability kicks in. When he's destroyed, I can look at the top three cards of my deck and summon a monster I find there. So I can now summon my Destiny Hero- Double Dude in defense mode!" James called as his gentlemanly hero arose with 1000 attack and defense. "Don't forget James that all of your attack mode monsters have to attack this turn. So say goodbye to your Judge Man!" Alister reminded as Judge Man attack and was immediately engulfed in flames after Alister discarded his Blast Sphere.

"Alright, well since my Double Dude is in defense mode, he can't attack. I lay one card facedown and end my turn." James concluded. "Don't forget what happens when you end your turn, James: you lose 500 more life points!" Alister reminded with an evil laugh and fire once again engulfed James and his life points dropped to 2500. James winced in pain, but Alister kept laughing. "My perfect combo is complete and now you James will burn forever in the Seal of Orichalcos!"


	15. Chapter 15: Rise like a Phoenix to Fly

Chapter 15- Rise like a Phoenix to Fly

"Now it's time to complete your destruction, James." Alister said coldly as he drew a card. "First I activate the magic card Allure of Darkness. This allows me to draw two cards as long as I remove from play one dark monster from my hand." Alister explained as he drew his cards and removed his Science Soldier from his hand. "And now I have everything I need to win this here and now. I activate the equip spell Dark Flames Spirit and equip it to my Dark Flames Fiend. First I have to give up 2000 of my life points and then I can increase my Fiend's attack power by 2000." Alister explained as his life points dropped to 1800 and a fiery glow appeared around Dark Flames Fiend as its attack power rose to 3000. "Now my monsters are invincible, so they're no way you can defeat them." Alister smirked as James tried to hide his fear.

"Now, Gorlag, attack Double Dude with your great flame whip!" Alister commanded as Gorlag shot a whip of fire at James' warrior, ripping it apart in a fiery blaze. "And since my Gorlag destroyed your monster, it's now mine." Alister stated as James smiled a bit and activated his trap. "Not so fast, Alister. I activate my trap card Rope of Life. This card allows me to revive my Double Dude to the field in attack mode. Only this time he has an extra 800 attack points." James explained as his gentleman came back to the field through a rope from a great hole with 1800 attack and 1000 defense. "But I also have to discard my entire hand now." James added as he discarded all the cards in his hand. "A high price to pay for a still weak monster." Alister snickered evilly. "Because my ultimate fiend can still burn up your weak warrior. Don't be gentlemanly James, it doesn't suit you. Darkness is so much more gratifying. And I'll prove it by consuming you in its inferno! Dark Flames Fiend, destroy Double Dude once again with dark inferno strike!" Alister yelled as his great fiend blew deadly firestorm that consumed Double Dude and obliterated it, causing James to wince back in the heat as his life points dropped to 1300.

"I'll end my turn by lying one card facedown. I think that's enough punishment for now or maybe not because as I end my turn you take another 500 points of damage." Alister scorned as James was again consumed in fire and his life points dropped once again to 800. James stood there panting for a moment, but Alister took full advantage of his weakness. "What's the matter, James, can't take the heat? Well there' no escape for you this time. After all, you have no monsters on the field and no cards in your hand. Face it James, it's over!" Alister mocked with an evil laugh. "Maybe he's right, I don't have any options left." James thought to himself in despair as he stood there still panting. "You don't plan on giving up just yet do you, James?" A comforting voice asked jokingly as a panel to the roof opened up and Kristiann came up. "You've been in tougher situations before and you always come out on top. You can do it James, I believe in you!" Kristiann shouted encouragingly.

"You've got to be joking, it's hopeless!" Alister contradicted. "No, Alister, you're wrong." James said as he raised his head. "She's right, Alister, I can't give up. She's counting me, no the whole world's counting on me. And besides Alister, she's given me something that you and all your darkness never could. She's shown me that love and kindness is what makes you truly strong, not fire and power. And it's with that same light and hope that I'm going to win right here. Look out!" James recited as he drew his last card. "My faith in the light has rewarded me, Alister. I was right, it all ends here." James said with a smile as he looked at the card he drew. "But that's impossible, there's no way you can win now!" Alister said in disbelief. "Just watch me. First, since my Destiny Hero- Double Dude was destroyed last turn, I can summon two Double Dude Tokens to the field." James began as two exact copies of the gentlemanly card emerged on the field, each with 1000 attack and defense. "Hmph, those tokens are worthless, just as worthless as the original." Alister mocked, trying to hide the slight fear building up in him. "They may be on their own, but I can sacrifice both of my Tokens in order to summon the final monster of your destruction. I sacrifice both of my Double Dude Tokens in order to summon my Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys in attack mode!" James exclaimed as a flame of great light surrounded James' tokens and a great phoenix emerged in their place with 2400 attack and 1600 defense.

"Alright, I knew you could do it James!" Kristiann exclaimed with delight. "It's time to fight fire with fire Alister. Sacred Phoenix attack Gorlag with sacred fire strike!" James commanded as his phoenix blew a stream of light fire at Alister's fiend. "Humph, you know that attack is in vain. All I have to do it discard my Volcanic Slicer from my hand and your last resort phoenix is destroyed. So much for turning this duel around!" Alister laughed as the dark flames consumed James' last monster. But James just stood there laughing. "What's so funny, James? Do you want to suffer and lose, you masochist?!" Alister shouted back. "No, Alister, but I do want to win this duel. And I still plan to." James replied. "How can you say that? I just destroyed your last monster!" Alister yelled. "Don't you know anything about phoenixes, Alister? Whenever they die, they rise from the ashes and fly once again. And the same applies for my Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys. Whenever it's destroyed by a card effect, it is automatically reborn, only when it rises again, it destroys all face up spells and traps on the field. So arise, Sacred Phoenix and fly once again!" James shouted dramatically as the same great fire of light shone on the field and James' Phoenix arose from its ashes. "And now, say goodbye to your trap card. And you know what that means: when your trap is destroyed, so are all of your monsters!" James explained as Alister's trap and monsters were destroyed and he was left defenseless.

"No, this can't be! It's not going to end this way!" Alister yelled as the light flames still sparkled across the field. "But it is, Alister, now Sacred Phoenix, attack Alister's life points directly and put an end to his darkness!" James commanded as his phoenix sent a shining firestorm directly at Alister. "Hmph, I said it wasn't going to end this way and it's not. I activate my facedown card Contagion of Madness. Now I may lose 2400 life points, but you lose 1200." Alister said as the flames hit him and his life points hit 0. But at the same time, Alister's magic card sent James' life points plummeting to 0 as well. "It's a draw then!" James exclaimed as the Orichalcos light from below shone bright across the entire field and shot a beam of light to the sky. When the light had cleared, the holograms, including the Seal of Orichalcos were gone.

But so was Alister. "Mark my words James, this isn't over. I'll be back for my revenge sooner than you think and then you'll burn!" Alister's voice screamed with determination, but Alister himself was gone for the time being.


	16. Chapter 16: Call of Destiny

Chapter 16- Call of Destiny

"James!" Kristiann called as she ran over to where James was standing. "He got away didn't he?" Kristiann asked him. "Yea, since no one technically lost this duel, the Seal of Orichalcos didn't take a soul. So I guess Alister ran away when that beam of light shot up." James explained. "And what about the shard?" Kristiann asked. James walked over to where Alister was standing and looked around. "Well it's not here, so I guess he took it with him." James offered. "That's not good, since we didn't destroy that shard, Yami could use it to help revive himself." Kristiann said with worry. "I don't think it's a big concern. After all, Alister did vow to get his revenge, so I'm sure he'll show up again. And when he does, I'll duel him again and take the shard." James replied encouragingly.

"You're right, it's nothing to worry about. Come here." Kristiann said as she walked over to James and embraced him. "I was worried about you out there." Kristiann said affectionately to her boyfriend. "There's no need to worry. Just like you said, I always pull through. Besides, how could I lose with you here cheering me on?" James chuckled with love. "I love you, James." Kristiann told him. "I love you too." James replied as he kissed her forehead.

But then suddenly, his phone rang with a Panic at the Disco song. "Well that kinda kills the mood." Kristiann said flatly as James fumbled into his pocket to retrieve his ringing phone. "Hello?" James asked into the device. "Hey, James? Oh my gosh are you okay?" The concerned female voice asked. "Yea, I'm fine, who is this?" A confused James asked. "Oh, sorry, this is Jillian. I just heard about what happened to your family and decided to call you and see if everything was ok." The female voice affirmed. "Oh, yea, I'm fine. I'm staying with Kristiann at her house." James answered. "Oh I knew you'd be ok, Kristiann is always there for you. Is she there? Tell her I said hi." Jillian greeted. "Jillian says hi." James relayed as Kristiann waved shyly. "But I am still kinda concerned. What happened?" Jillian asked. "Well it's kind of a long story…" James began. "Well I'd love to hear all about it. What? Oh, ok." She yelled at someone on her end of the phone. "Hey, James, I do want to hear your story, but now isn't really the best time. Can you and Kristiann come for dinner tomorrow? You can tell me then." Jillian offered. But before James could answer, Jillian yelled again at the unknown person. "Um, sure we'll be there." James answered. "Great, I'll see you then." Jillian said right before she hung up.

"Well I guess we're going over there tomorrow." James said as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Great. How is this going to help us find the shards? With Alister's shard missing, we can't afford to waste time." Kristiann stated. "I know that, but who knows, maybe this is happening for a reason? Besides you're only saying because you don't get along too well with her family." James pointed out. "Well…" Kristiann trailed off, unable to come up with a good defense. "It's ok, there' nothing to worry about. But hey, can we make a stop at my house before we head home? I just want to pick up some stuff." James asked. "Yea, sure no problem. We can also stop and see Sheik on the way." Kristiann added. "Exactly, alright I guess we should get going then." James said as he looked up at the late afternoon sky. "Yea, I guess so, but just one more thing…" Kristiann added as she leaned in and gave James a kiss. "Thanks, baby. Now let's get going." James said lovingly as the two headed down the stairs and out of the building.

The two got into their car and headed off towards James' neighborhood. "Hey, I think we should stop at Owney before your house." Kristiann suggested as they pulled in to the neighborhood. "I agree, let's go." James agreed as the Kristiann pulled the car into the park. They both got out and walked to the area where they usually met Sheik. "Hey, Sheik, are you here?" James called out. "Of course, I am always here, as long as destiny demands it." Sheik said in his flat and mysterious voice as he jumped down from the tree. "You failed to destroy the Shard, didn't you?" Sheik asked James though he obviously knew the answer. "Yes, the duel was a draw and Alister, the guardian of the shard, escaped with it." James answered sadly. "That is okay, I'm sure Alister will reemerge sometime." Sheik answered.

"Sheik, even though we didn't destroy the last shard, can you still tell us where to find the next one?" Kristiann asked the mysterious ninja. "… I do not know, but I can try." Sheik answered after a pause. "Allow me to try to probe destiny for the answer." Sheik stated as he focused his energy on the eye on his chest. After a moment of meditation, the dim light faded and Sheik opened his eyes again. "I do indeed see the shard." Sheik answered, much to the happiness of James and Kristiann. "Alright! Where is it?" Kristiann asked in exclamation. "First off, I see a light, a place of light, where light was created. And yet, the light is not as bright as the previous one was. In fact, it is a dim light, but light nonetheless." Sheik began. "A place of weak light? I wonder…" James thought out loud. "Other than the dim light, I see water, an ocean of water. But that is all. I am sorry." Sheik concluded. "Water? Where do you think that could be?" Kristiann asked the two.

"I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. There was a reason for us going to Jillian's house tomorrow. That's where the third shard is." James answered. "You're right, that does make a lot of sense! After all, Jillian's house is on the gulf, which explains the water. And when we dueled Yami the last time, he brought us there." Kristiann affirmed. "Exactly, also you remember what happened there two years ago, don't you? It wasn't the greatest of lights, but that's exactly what Sheik predicted." James added as the two looked very excited. "So that's where it is then! Alright Sheik we're going there tomorrow, so… wait where did he go?" Kristiann began but stopped when the two turned around and realized that Sheik was gone.

"Whoa, where did he go?" James asked in confusion. "Who knows, he is a pretty mysterious guy?" Kristiann offered. "Yea, you're right. Oh well, we know where the shard is, so tomorrow when we're at Jillian's we'll have to look for it." James said as the two headed back to the car. "Alright, but first let's go pick up that stuff you wanted, then we'll head home and tomorrow, take out that third shard!" Kristiann exclaimed confidently as she started up the car and headed off.


	17. Chapter 17: An Epic Duel

Chapter 17- An Epic Duel

"So yes, the dragon was able to kill Beowulf because it was Beowulf's fate to die at the hands of the dragon. And because obeying fate was one of the Anglo-Saxon values, Beowulf had to obey fate because he was the epic hero of the Anglo-Saxons." Mr. DeNote, the English teacher, answered a student's question right as the bell rang. "Alright, we'll pick this up tomorrow. Have a great day!" Mr. DeNote said as the class began to pick up their belongings and filter out of the room. "Real talk, Mr. DeNote, I gotta tell you that Beowulf is just plain awesome. I find myself making a whole bunch of Anglo-Saxon references with everything lately." James told his teacher cheerfully. "I guess that's better than making a whole bunch of Crucible references all the time." Mr. DeNote answered with a chuckle as he semi-rolled his eyes.

"You're a fool, James. Just look at you, getting all excited about some thousands-of-year-old epic poem." Ken said coldly to James. "What's the matter, Ken don't you believe in all these values? Honor, strength, loyalty, obeying fate, and even you have got to admit that Beowulf was one awesome dude." James responded. "Like you have the right to say anything about strength. But I do agree with you on one thing: obeying fate is truly important. The question is, will you obey yours? Or will you end up just like your so-called epic hero? Whatever it is, I really could care less what happens to you." Ken snickered ominously as he picked up his laptop bag and walked out of the room. "Jeez, what's his problem?" James asked no one in particular. Mr. DeNote just shrugged his shoulders. "Well anyways, I guess I'll be going, have a good day, Mr. DeNote!" James waved as he walked out of the room.

As soon as he walked out of the room, he was greeted by a smiling Kristiann. "Hey! Have fun with those Anglo-Saxons?" She asked with a grin. "Oh course, all that emotional control, mental shrewdness, and obeying fate!" James replied with a laugh. "Speaking of obeying fate, I think it's time that we obey ours and head over to Jillian's." Kristiann reminded him. James started to say something, but was interrupted by shouting down that hall. "God, you are such a freak!" An angry voice shouted from down the hall. "What's going on?" Kristiann asked in a concerned way as the two turned the corner on the hall. When they looked, the saw an angry Daniel screaming at a calm, cool and collected Ken. "Your anger is so pointless." Ken responded in a very cavalier manner. "Your existence is pointless!" Daniel yelled.

"What is going on out here?" Mr. DeNote asked the two observers. "I don't really know, we just walked out here and saw Daniel screaming at Ken for no real reason." Kristiann explained. "Fine, if you want to be so calm, freak, then let's settle this with a duel!" Daniel challenged angrily. "What conflict? As far as I'm concerned the only problem is your weal mental capacity. And speaking of weak, if I remember correctly, the last time we dueled, I completely destroyed you." Ken replied with a hint of venom. "He's got a point you know." James whispered to Kristiann. "God you are such a freak!" Daniel yelled as he lunged at Ken. "Hey, now hold off. It's one thing to get mad, but to threaten someone like that is crossing the line." Mr. DeNote interrupted Daniel's angry charge. Daniel stopped and turned around at the approaching teacher.

"Now what seems to be the problem?" Mr. DeNote asked the two rivals. "Mr. DeNote, Daniel here just has a short temper and I don't believe he likes me very much. Perhaps that's because I defeated him in a duel, quite badly I might add." Ken replied. "Well maybe I don't like you because you're a freak, you little fucker!" Daniel shouted as he stepped towards Ken again. "Calm down, man. You're not helping yourself." James urged as he grabbed his friend from punching Ken. "Well it seems to me like you're both out of line." Mr. DeNote reasoned. "Yea, but this little fucker is more out of line." Daniel said smartly. "Daniel, please!" Mr. DeNote reprimanded. "Mr. DeNote, if I may, he began by shouting at me. Therefore the brunt of his punishment should be his. However I propose a duel, just as Mr. Megiel here suggested." Ken replied. "Well since Daniel has suggested it, you two may settle this with a duel." Mr. DeNote conceded. "Oh, I cannot duel that fool again, Mr. DeNote. With all due respect, I challenge you to a duel." Ken challenged smugly. "You arrogant little…" Daniel trailed off because he was interrupted by his English teacher.

"If it will settle this little argument, then I accept your challenge Ken. But if I win, then you both get detention. And if you win, then no one gets detention." Mr. DeNote laid out the conditions. "Mr. DeNote, but shouldn't someone get in trouble?" James asked. "According to the school rules, yes. But I haven't had a challenge like this in years, so I'm not going to pass up this opportunity. Shall we take this out to the courtyard?" Mr. DeNote offered. "That will be fine." Ken said with a slight smile. The two opponents, Kristiann, James, and Daniel all walked out to the courtyard and Ken and Mr. DeNote stood at opposite ends of the paved area. "It's been too long since I used this deck. Are you ready, Ken?" Mr. DeNote asked as he slid his deck into his duel disk and activated it. "Of course, I was born ready." Ken replied with a dark smile as he too activated his duel disk. "Let's duel!" They both shouted at the same time as their life points were both set to 4000 and the duel began.

"As the elder of us, I'll go first." Mr. DeNote began as he drew a card. "I'll begin by summoning The Portrait's Secret in defense mode." Mr. DeNote said as his portrait's fiend appeared with 1200 attack and 1500 defense. "To end my turn, I'll play two cards facedown. It's your move, Ken." Mr. DeNote concluded. "Very well." Ken said emotionlessly as he drew a card. "First, I summon my Dark Ocean Raven in attack mode." Ken began as his dark bird arose with 800 attack and 500 defense. "My monster may appear weak, but I can assure you, it's anything but. At least, after I activate my Dark Ocean's Grip equip card and attach it to my Raven. With this card equipped to it, it gains an extra 1000 attack points." Ken explained as his Raven's attack points rose to 1800. "And now, Dark Ocean Raven, destroy the Portrait's Secret!" Ken commanded as his raven flew forward, right through Mr. DeNote's monster, destroying it and dropping his life points down to 3700. "Wait, why did Mr. DeNote's life points go down? His monster was in defense mode." Daniel asked. "That's because Ken's equip card makes it so the difference is still dealt, even if his monster's in defense mode." James explained.

"You may have destroyed my monster Ken, but I have a trap: Dorian's Immortality. If one of my monsters is destroyed, I can automatically re-summon it in its original position." Mr. DeNote explained as his trap activated and his portrait was brought back in defense mode. "Very well, I lay two cards facedown and end my turn." Ken concluded. "Alright, then it's my turn again." Mr. DeNote began his turn by drawing a card. "And here comes something big! I sacrifice the Portrait's Secret in order to summon Marauding Beast Grendel in attack mode!" Mr. DeNote called out as his great furry beast emerged with 2300 attack and 2200 defense. "Impressive, but I have a trap, Genius Rivalry. Since you just tribute summoned a monster, I too can summon a high level monster from my hand or deck. And I choose Dark Ocean Behemoth." Ken said as his trap activated as his great whale emerged from his deck with 2200 attack and 2400 defense. "That's a strong monster, but it's no match for Grendel. But instead of destroying your behemoth, I'll attack your Raven with Marauding Beast Grendel!" Mr. DeNote proclaimed as his great beast ran full speed towards Ken's bird.

"You don't have a choice but to destroy my Behemoth, because with its special ability, I can redirect your attack to it." Ken explained as Grendel ripped apart Ken's whale instead, reducing his life points to 3900. "You may not understand the genius of that move, but when my Dark Ocean Behemoth is sent to the graveyard I can add one Dark Ocean monster to my hand directly from my deck." Ken explained smugly as he selected his card and reshuffled his deck. "It doesn't matter which monster you pick, my literature-based monsters will never let me down. I end my turn." Mr. DeNote concluded. "Your pathetically cute literature monsters have no choice but to let you down. And they'll continue here." Ken replied with venom as he drew a card. "I activate a card that suits me perfectly, Genius Rush." Ken said arrogantly. "With this, all I have to do is discard a card from my hand, and I can search my deck for a card of the same type. So I'll send this normal magic card to the grave in order to add this one to my hand." Ken explained. "And I think I'll activate it now: Terraforming! With this, I can add one field spell directly to my hand. And I choose Dark Ocean." Ken explained as he added the card to his hand.

"And now I activate the field spell Dark Ocean!" Ken proclaimed as the whole field became immersed in Ken's dark sea. "And from the depths, my Dark Ocean Diver emerges." Ken added as his diver fiend emerged with 1100 attack and 900 defense. "But don't forget, that now that Dark Ocean is on the field, all water and dark monster gain 500 attack and all monsters of other attributes lose that same amount." Ken reminded as his Raven's attack power rose to 2300, his Diver's attack points rose to 1600, and Grendel's attack points dropped to 1800. "Now, Dark Ocean Raven, destroy Grendel!" Ken commanded as his bird rushed forward. "Not so fast, you may have an impressive offensive, but this trap stops all those. I activate A Farwell to Arms, a card that ends your battle phase if you have more life points than me." Mr. DeNote countered. "Impressive, but it won't last. I lay one last card facedown and end my turn. Mr. DeNote, next turn this duel ends." Ken said ominously as he ended his turn.

"Well then I'm going down fighting." Mr. DeNote said confidently as he drew a card. "And now I activate the ritual spell Valhalla's Blessing. Now all I have to do is send Grendel and my Witch's Spirit card from my hand to the graveyard in order to summon my ultimate card: Epic Hero Beowulf in attack mode!" Mr. DeNote exclaimed as his monster was engulfed in flames and his epic warrior emerged with 3700 attack and 3600 defense. "Alright, Beowulf's here! Now there's no way Mr. DeNote can lose!" James exclaimed. "I wouldn't celebrate just yet, James. Because I have a trap, Shadow Spell! Once this card activates, one of your monsters loses 700 attack and is unable to attack or change its position." Ken countered as chains rose up and attached to Beowulf, decreasing his attack to 3000. "Ha, don't you know that an epic hero like him can't be chained down that easily. I activate the equip spell Hrunting, which makes Beowulf immune to magic and trap cards." Mr. DeNote countered as Shadow Spell was destroyed and Beowulf's attack points returned to normal.

"Now, Beowulf, destroy Dark Ocean Raven with epic hero slash!" Mr. DeNote shouted as his hero slashed apart Ken's monster with epic Anglo-Saxon strength and dropped Ken's life points to 2300. "Now, I end my turn. Now let's see if it's your fate to win." Mr. DeNote concluded with an Anglo-Saxon pun. "I said I was going to win this turn, and I'm absolutely correct. No one defeats me!" Ken said angrily as he drew his card. "And here it is. I activate Dark Ocean Shadows, which lets me summon two Dark Ocean Tokens in attack mode." Ken explained as his two dark shadows emerged with a total of 1000 attack and defense each. "And now it's time to meet the final card of your destruction. I sacrifice Dark Ocean Diver and both Dark Ocean Tokens in order to summon the ultimate Dark Ocean Leviathan in attack mode!" Ken yelled dramatically as wind and waves called forth the great serpent from the depths with 3700 attack and 3800 defense.

"But Beowulf is still stronger than your serpent." Mr. DeNote pointed out, trying to hide the slight fear of the awesome serpent. "That may be, but my Leviathan has a very special ability. If Dark Ocean is in play, I can destroy one of your monsters and deal damage to your life points equal to your monsters attack points. Game over!" Ken exclaimed with madness as his great beast shot a stream of darkness and water at Beowulf, destroying it. Mr. DeNote also got caught in the torrent and fell backwards as his life points hit 0.

"Oh no, he lost!" Kristiann exclaimed as the area returned to normal. "That was a good duel, Ken. I haven't felt that great since… well a while ago." Mr. DeNote conceded as he rose to his feet with a smile, despite his loss. "Mr. DeNote, I respect you as a teacher, but the truth is, you're just as weak as everyone else. Just like I predicted from the beginning." Ken said coldly as he turned and walked away, back into the school building.


	18. Chapter 18: The Lady in the Gulf

Chapter 18- The Lady in the Gulf

"Man, I hate that guy." Daniel reiterated. "Just let him go, there's nothing you can do; a deal's a deal." Mr. DeNote conceded. "Yea, but there's just something wrong with that guy. Hey, Kristiann, you ok?" James asked to Kristiann who was staring at a nearby bench. "Oh yea, I'm fine I just thought I saw something over there." Kristiann replied. "Hunh? I don't see anything; you must have just imagined it." Daniel said. "Probably." Kristiann replied as she shrugged her shoulders. "Well whatever it was, it's gone now. Speaking of gone, we should start heading to Jillian's house." James reminded. "You're right, we've been here for a while now." Kristiann realized. "Well have fun without me." Daniel said sarcastically. "We will. Bye Mr. DeNote!" James answered as bid farewell as James and Kristiann left the school building and walked out to the car. "You ready?" Kristiann asked as she started the car. "Yea, let's go!" James affirmed as the two drove off.

They had not been driving long when they at last arrived at Jillian's gulf-side house. Her house, a beautiful three story residence, was right on the Gulf of Mexico. By the back porch was a swimming pool and a dock right on the Gulf. In the front was a rounded driveway where Kristiann parked her car. "Well here we are." Kristiann said flatly. "Yep, hey don't worry, everything's gonna be fine." James encouraged as the two walked up to the ornate door and rang the doorbell. "I know, but don't forget also that if a shard is here, then a guardian will also be here. As if Jillian's family wasn't enough to worry about." Kristiann sighed. "It's alright… oh here she is!" James stopped as a young lady opened the front door. "James! Kristiann! How are you two?" The young lady asked. She had long blonde hair and wore a bright yellow T-shirt with jeans. She also had light green eyes and a brilliant smile to match her cheerful demeanor.

"We're great, how're you?" James replied with a smile. "That's good to hear. Hey, come on in! Dinner's almost ready." Jillian offered as the two walked in. The anteroom was simple enough and had a staircase leading to the second floor. As an alternative, there was also an elevator, but the trio preferred to take the stairs. When the two arrived at the top of the stairs, they found themselves in a large living room with a kitchen and dining room attached. There was no one else in the room however as Jillian, Kristiann, and James entered. "Where is everyone?" James asked as he looked around. "Oh, Mom's not feeling well and Dad and Jared are out of town. But Mom said to go ahead and eat anyways. Go ahead, sit down." Jillian offered as she walked into the kitchen.

James and Kristiann sat down at the already set dining room table as Jillian brought in from the kitchen a tray of steaming chicken parmesan. "Please, help yourself." Jillian offered as she too sat down. "Now, come on, tell me all about what happened. I heard your parents and sister are in the hospital in a coma. Start from the beginning." Jillian said. James and Kristiann told Jillian all about Yami and the Seal of Orichalcos and even about Sheik and their quest for the Nightmare Shards. "So you're telling me that your evil side is wandering around taking souls?! And he's getting his power from seven crystals that are scattered throughout the area?" Jillian asked to clarify. "Yes, unfortunately that's the case. But there's something else. We talked to Sheik and he said that one of the nightmare shards might be hidden here." James added. "Jillian, have you seen anything suspicious around here that might indicate a shard is here?" Kristiann asked.

"Well now that you mention it, just the other day, my mom was on her daily walk down the beach and picked up a strange crystal. It matches your description of the nightmare shards perfectly." Jillian said after a moment of thought. "What?! Where is that crystal now?" James asked. "My mom took it into her room and put it in her jewelry box. Actually, ever since she found it, she's been terribly sick." Jillian revealed. "Oh no, Jillian, your mom might be in serious danger! We have to see that shard at once." Kristiann exclaimed. "You're right, I'll talk you up to her room." Jillian exclaimed also as she stood up. The three walked up another flight of stairs and down a hallway to a bedroom door. When they got to the door however, they saw a green light emanating from the other side. "Oh no, we might be too late!" Kristiann exclaimed as James threw the door open.

"He he he, indeed you are too late." An evil female voice laughed as the light of the Orichalcos faded away. In the newly opened bedroom they saw Jillian's unconscious mother with another lady sitting on the side of the bed. The lady wore a low-cut blue one-piece that had a diamond opening revealing her belly button and that had flowing blue strips attached to it like a skirt that covered her legs like a loose waterfall. Across her shoulders was a long blue cape. She had piercing dark blue eyes and long blue hair that completed her image of the perfect, sexy aquatic villain. Around the lady's neck was a crystal of purple shadow energy pulsing through it with flashes of green in it. There was no doubt that this crystal was the Nightmare Shard they were searching for. "I found this in your dear mother's jewelry box. I rather like it. It matches my eyes don't you think?" The lady asked with a dark grin. "Mom!" Jillian exclaimed as she pushed past the evil lady and knelt down beside her soulless mother.

"Don't you listen, you're too late. Her soul already belongs to Master Yami. It was fun making her suffer for a while though, I always love to torment my victims before taking their souls." The lady chuckled. "You're sick! Just who are you?" Jillian asked with a tearful face. "What do you care? Watch your temper, girl, or I might just take your soul as well." The lady snapped. "Well maybe you won't mind telling me then. Are you the guardian of that nightmare shard?" James asked boldly. At this point, the dark aquatic lady stood up and faced James and Kristiann. "Well don't flatter me so much, James. On second thought keep doing it, it excites me." The lady said devilishly. "Now you're just being obnoxious. Maybe I'll get an answer if I ask. Just who are you?!" Kristiann asked angrily.

"Well aren't we all impatient today? Well since you're all so eager to be destroyed, I might as well tell you my name so you can learn to love and fear it before you all lose. My name is Marina and I am indeed the guardian of this beautiful little nightmare shard. And if I might add, I also happen to be the most sexy out of all the guardians. Not to mention more beautiful than this so called essence of purity and light. Really James, if you want real power, which I know you so do, and real fun, which every man certainly does, then you might as well join my little team." Marina said seductively with a snicker and a little wink. "No way, I'll never join you. And I have to object, Kristiann is the most beautiful woman in the whole universe, not even you can compare." James replied nobly. "As if! Well it doesn't matter; I have more power in my pinky than she's got in her whole body." Marina boasted.

"You want to put that to the test, Marina? I'll duel you right here and now!" Kristiann challenged. "Well I have nothing to do for the rest of the day, so I might as well. But if you think you're getting your hands on this shard, then you're wrong." Marina said as she walked over to the nearby window. She opened it, removed the shard from her neck, and tossed it out the window. "No!" James exclaimed as he dashed over to the window, having just enough time to see it pass underneath the waves of the nearby sea. "If by some miracle you're able to defeat me, then maybe I'll give you that shard back. Meet me on the dock when you're ready. Until then!" Marina bid farewell with a wink and she vanished in a flash of blue.

"Of all the guardians, she's probably the most obnoxious too." Kristiann grumbled. "Don't worry baby, you can defeat her, no doubt. Show her what real love is!" James encouraged. "Kristiann, I know our families don't exactly get along, but please defeat her and bring my mother back." Jillian said with determination as she stood up. "I don't know if defeating her will bring your mother back, but I'll try." Kristiann promised. "Thank you. Kristiann, I believe in you and I want you to have this card. It's my favorite card and I know you can use it a lot better than I ever could." Jillian said as she pulled out a card from her pocket and handed it to Kristiann. Kristiann looked down at the card and read its name: Dark Magician Girl. "Don't worry Jillian, James, I won't let you down. Now let's go down there and duel a bitch!" Kristiann said determinately as she slipped the card into her deck and the three headed downstairs.


	19. Chapter 19: The Beauty of Darkness

Chapter 19- The Beauty of Darkness

"Marina, I'm here!" Kristiann yelled as the James, Kristiann, and Jillian dashed out onto the dock. The back patio of Jillian's house composed of a patio area with a pool and hot tub. But attached to that area was a dock that led out to the Gulf of Mexico. It was on this dock that Kristiann stood on the edge of while James and Jillian waited by the edge of the pool are and the walkway that leaded up to the dock. "Well it took you long enough." Marina's voice called out, but she was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, a spout of water erupted from the sea and Marina came riding up on the spout. On her arm this time was a chaos duel disk, but it was colored blue and had more aquatic designs on it. "Unlike my male comrades, I prefer to use a more personalized duel disk." Marina boasted. "I don't care what kind of duel disk you have, you're still going down." Kristiann challenged as she activated her own Kaiba Corp. duel disk.

"Whatever you say, hun. It's time to put that pitiful confidence to the test." Marina replied as she activated her own aqua-chaos duel disk. "Let's duel!" They both shouted in unison as their life points were both set to 4000 and the duel began. "Normally I'd say age before beauty, but since I have both, I'll make the first move." Marina said snidely as she drew a card. Kristiann scowled as Marina looked over her hand. "First I'll lay these two cards facedown and then I'll summon my Aqua Madoor in defense mode." Marina began as her water spell caster appeared on its card with 1200 attack and 2000 defense. "That'll do for now." Marina concluded.

"Fine then, it's my turn." Kristiann began by drawing a card. "And I intend to break through your defense right here. And my Different Dimension Assailant will make sure that I do." Kristiann said confidently as her warrior emerged with 1700 attack and 1600 defense. "Then I'll equip her with my favorite equip card Black Pendant, boosting her attack power by 500." Kristiann added as her warrior gained the dark necklace, raising her attack points to 2200. "Now D.D. Assailant, attack Aqua Madoor!" Kristiann commanded as her warrior raised its gigantic sword and rushed at Marina's monster. "Ah, you are so predictable, it's pathetic. I activate my trap card Aqua Evolution! This allows me to return Aqua Madoor to my hand in order to summon a new water monster from my hand. Namely the stronger Neo Aqua Madoor." Marina explained as her creatures swapped and her magician was replaced by an even stronger one with 1200 attack and 3000 defense. "And the best part is your monster is still right on target to attack mine." Marina pointed out as D.D. Assailant still ran forward and slammed Neo Aqua Madoor with her sword. But Neo Aqua Madoor simply threw the warrior back, knocking Kristiann's life points down to 3200.

"Alright, I'll lay one card facedown and end my turn." Kristiann concluded. "Excellent, this should be easier than I thought." Marina boasted as she drew a card. "And I think I'll summon my Maiden of the Aqua in defense mode." Marina called as her aquatic princess emerged with 700 attack and 2000 defense. "And as long as my Maiden is on the field, the field is treated as Umi, a virtual ocean, which is convenient since we're already dueling on water. But whatever I end my turn." Marina concluded. "And you say I'm predictable, but at least I'm not a coward. All you're playing is monsters in defense mode." Kristiann pointed out. "It's called strategy my dear, something you wouldn't know anything about." Marina countered with a look of slight annoyance. "Kristiann has a point, Marina is playing very defensively. I wonder what's she's planning. She must be waiting for something big." Jillian thought out loud from the side lines. "I think I know what's she's waiting for. And if she draws it, then Kristiann is in trouble." James stated.

"It doesn't matter what kind of so called strategy you have Marina, I'll break through it either way." Kristiann said confidently as she drew a card. "And I'll start by summoning my Light Effigy in attack mode." Kristiann stated as her orb of light energy emerged with 1500 attack and 0 defense. "That's all I can do for now, I end my turn." Kristiann concluded in disappointment. "For now? There's nothing you can do ever to win this duel." Marina boasted as she drew again. "And I'll start my turn with something a little more proactive than your little toy there. I activate Graceful Charity, which allows me to draw three cards if I then discard two." Marina explained as she drew and discarded. "Next, I'll remove my Aqua Madoor that I just discarded from my graveyard from play and I can summon my Aqua Spirit in attack mode." Marina said as her water sprite emerged with 1600 attack and 1200 defense. "And since I still happen to have a normal summon this turn, I'll summon another beautiful water monster: my Water Omotics in attack mode!" Marina called as her water woman appeared with 1400 attack and 1200 defense.

"And to complete my aquatic assault, I activate my facedown card Submerged Revival, allowing me to special summon a water monster from my graveyard. And I chose the Water Girl I discarded with Graceful Charity!" Marina added as her scantily-dressed girl emerged from the depths with 1250 attack and 1000 defense. "Oh no, Kristiann's staring down a full field of five strong water monsters!" Jillian exclaimed. "Oh, it's much worse than that, because now I activate Oceanic Currents, quite the deadly magic card. First off, during this turn only, all of my water monsters in attack mode gain 500 attack points. Then as a continuous effect, when one of my monsters engages in battle, I can look at the top two card of my deck and draw them. If either one is a monster I can add it to my hand, but any magic or trap card automatically go to the bottom of my deck." Marina explained as her water monsters all boosted in attack power: 1750 for Water Girl, 1900 for Water Omotics, and 2100 for Aqua Spirit.

"Now, my aquatic lovelies, attack Kristiann's monsters and her directly!" Marina commanded with a happy, evil look as her monster all launched water-based attacks. "I don't think so, Marina. You may have a lot of monsters, but I can block all of your attacks with my trap Negate Attack. That blocks all of your attacks and ends your battle phase." Kristiann countered. "Whatever, you still can't get past my wall of monsters. I end my turn." Marina concluded as all her monster's attack powers returned to normal. "Alright, then it's time for me to take back this duel." Kristiann said as she drew a card. "First, I'll lay this card facedown. And then I'll sacrifice my Light Effigy in order to summon my favorite monster: my Shining Arctic Queen!" Kristiann exclaimed loudly as light enveloped her side of the field and her beautiful queen emerged with 2800 attack and 1500 defense. "But wait, Shining Arctic Queen needs two sacrifices, so why did Kristiann summon it with only one?" Jillian asked. "That's because if Light Effigy is sacrificed to summon a normal light monster, it counts as two sacrifices." James explained.

"Marina, my queen has never let me down, and she's not about to start. Go Shining Arctic Queen, attack Aqua Spirit!" Kristiann commanded as her queen shot a beam of light energy, destroying Marina's spirit and reducing her life points to 2800. "Now, D.D. Assailant, destroy Water Omotics!" Kristiann again commanded as her warrior slashed apart Marina's monster, bringing her life points even lower to 2500. "That ends my turn." Kristiann concluded. "Or does it, remember my Oceanic Currents card? It activates now, letting me look at the top two cards." Marina said as she looked at them. "They're both magic cards, so I'll send them to the bottom of my deck. But that's fine with me. In fact, it's borderline perfect." Marina said with a wicked smile. "Why is that good, now two good cards aren't usable until the very end?" Kristiann asked. "I'll tell you right now. Or better yet, I'll show you." Marina said ominously as she drew a card. "I activate the magic card Deep Sea Exploration. At the cost of 500 life points, I can draw the card at the bottom of my deck now." Marina explained as she drew the card. "But why would she want a magic card from the bottom of her deck? Unless… oh no!" James exclaimed in realization. "You guessed it, hun. Now I have the perfect card to put an end to your puny efforts here and now." Marina laughed and she looked insanely at the card in her hand and played it in the field spell slot in her duel disk. "I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!"


	20. Chapter 20: The Creation of the Sea

Chapter 20- The Creation of the Sea

"Your fate is sealed now!" Marina shouted as the great circle formed around the duelists and its cursed symbol trapped them inside. Immediately, all of Marina's monsters gained the symbol of the Orichalcos on their forehead and had their power boosted: 1750 attack and 1500 defense for Water Girl, 1200 attack and 2500 defense for Maiden of the Aqua, and 1700 attack and 3500 defense for Neo Aqua Madoor. "With the Seal of Orichalcos in play, my aquatic beauties are even more powerful." Marina boasted. "That doesn't scare me, I've beaten the Seal before and I know I can do it again." Kristiann replied confidently. "That may be true, but this time is different. What is it you goody people say? The past doesn't matter? And because of that, your future is not looking bright." Marina replied with cruel irony. "But talk is cheap so I'll back it up with my Water Girl. Lovely, attack D.D. Assailant with dark water shot!" Marina commanded as her beauty shot a blast of water at Kristiann's warrior, destroying it and reducing Kristiann's life points to 3150. "You may have destroyed my Assailant, but her effect now activates: not only does she automatically removed from play, but your Water Girl is also removed from play." Kristiann explained as Water Girl was removed from the field and the game.

"That's fine, I don't need her. But I do need the effects of my Oceanic Currents card. Since one of my water monsters engaged in battle, I can look at the top two cards of my deck." Marina reminded as she looked at the cards. "Only one is a monster, so I'll add it to my hand." Marina stated as she took the card and put the other at the bottom of her deck. "To end my turn, I'll summon my Beautiful Aqua Princess in attack mode and set one card facedown. It's your move, hun." Marina concluded as her elegant princess appeared with 1500 attack and 1200 defense, which was boosted and made lewd by the Seal, giving it 2000 attack and 1700 defense. "And she's also got a special ability that kicks in when I end my turn: I gain 500 life points for every monster on my side of the field, giving me a grand total of 1500 life points!" Marina explained with glee as her life points rose to 3500.

"Things aren't looking so good out there now that Marina's played the Seal of Orichalcos and that Princess." Jillian lamented. "It's nothing to worry about, she's been in tougher spots before. Besides, she's still got her Shining Arctic Queen out." James pointed out. "Alright, now I'll prove my point." Kristiann said confidently as she drew a card. "First, I'll summon my Gemini Elf in attack mode." Kristiann called as her twin elves emerged with 1900 attack and 900 defense. "Now, Shining Arctic Queen, attack Marina's princess!" Kristiann commanded as her queen shot a beam of light energy at Marina's monster. "Not so fast, because I have a trap: Tornado Wall. This card blocks all attacks as long as Umi is on my field." Marina explained as a typhoon wall emerged from the sea and blocked Kristiann's attack. "But you don't have Umi on your field, only field spell you have is the Seal of Orichalcos." Kristiann pointed out. "Yes, but you forget, my Maiden of the Aqua makes it seem like Umi is and allows all those effects to be put in place." Marina reminded her. "Alright, then, I play one card facedown and end my turn." Kristiann concluded.

"Typical, there's nothing to do to stop me." Marina mocked as she drew her card. "Oh and here's a card that's sure to help me out. I activate Card of Sanctity, which allows both of us to draw until we both are holding six cards in our hands. Since I know there's not a card in your deck that can save you, I don't mind you drawing." Marina explained mockingly as she drew her cards. "That's what you think, but I believe in myself and in my deck." Kristiann replied as she drew her cards. As she looked at her hand, she was pleasantly surprised to see a new card in her hand: Jillian's Dark Magician Girl. She looked at it with a smile and it almost seemed to smile back at her. "What's so funny over there? You won't be smiling when I special summon my Aqua Glow Lumineon to the field in defense mode. And all I have to do is remove my Aqua Spirit from my graveyard." Marina explained as her glowing fish emerged with 1400 attack and 1700 defense, but then its glow turned dark and its power was boosted as the Seal of Orichalcos raised its power to 1900 and 2200 defense. "But my Lumineon has a special ability: once per turn I can look at one facedown card you have on the field. So let's see what surprise you would have had in store for me." Marina explained as Kristiann's facedown Fairy Box was revealed to her. "That's nothing to worry about, so I'll attack anyways. Go Aqua Princess, attack Gemini Elf with royal aqua shot!" Marina commanded as her princess shot a blast of water energy at Kristiann's monster. "I know you already saw it coming, but I still activate my Fairy Box trap card. Now I have to flip a coin and if its heads, then your attack is negated." Kristiann explained as she pulled a coin out of her pocket and flipped it. "Alright, it's heads! That means your attack does absolutely nothing to my Gemini Elf." Kristiann exclaimed with glee as Marina's attack was negated.

"You think you're so clever, don't you? Well that was nothing but luck! But it doesn't really matter because my Oceanic Currents card still activates." Marina reminded as she looked at her top two cards. When she saw the two, she began laughing manically. "Now I'm wondering what's so funny." Kristiann said in confusion. "If you were me, you would be laughing too. But of course, you're not me and I'm sure glad you're not even close. But since I can't play this ultimate monster just yet, I'll keep you in suspense and fear and simply lay one facedown before ending my turn." Marina concluded as she added one monster to her hand, and put the other card at the bottom of her deck. "But don't forget, since I did end my turn, I gain another 2000 life points due to my Aqua Princess' effect." Marina reminded as her life points rose to 5500. "5500 life points? That's crazy! Kristiann is sure in a tight spot, especially with that awesome monster in Marina's hand!" Jillian panicked. "Even I'm starting to get a little nervous, but I know Kristiann can pull through." James encouraged.

"You might have a strong monster in your hand, but it's not on the field yet, so I still have a chance." Kristiann thought out loud as she drew a card. "But what can I do to stop Marina's monster?" Kristiann thought to herself. "Kristiann, summon me." A soft female voice whispered. "What? Who said that?" Kristiann asked herself. But then she saw a card in her hand that looked almost real for a moment. "Kristiann, please trust in me." The voice urged softly again. Kristiann nodded as then raised the card from her hand. "It must be my fate to play this card, so I'll sacrifice my Gemini Elf and summon Dark Magician Girl in attack mode!" Kristiann called as her beautiful spell caster emerged with 2000 attack and 1700 defense. "Yes, she played my favorite card!" Jillian exclaimed happily. "I really can't do anything else, so I'll lay one card facedown and end my turn." Kristiann concluded.

"Is that it?! You really think that sorry excuse for a beauty can stand in my way? Then you're sadly mistaken, hun." Marina mocked as she drew a card. "And with this card in my hand, my perfect combo is complete. Kristiann, your fate is completely sealed. So prepare to drown in unending darkness." Marina said with a dark grin. "First, I activate the magic card Burial from a Different Dimension to take my three monsters that have been removed from play and place them back into my graveyard." Marina explained as she returned her Aqua Madoor, Water Girl, and Aqua Spirit to her graveyard. "Now before I go any further, I'll activate the ability of my Lumineon and look at your facedown card." Marina stated as she looked at Kristiann's facedown Sure Fire Shot trap. "Hmph, normally that card might be an issue, but with this final magic card in my hand, nothing you have can save you. I activate The Creation of the Sea! It's all over for you!" Marina laughed as a mighty torrent whirled around the late afternoon gulf. "Oh no, what is she doing?" Jillian asked above the wind.

"With this magic card I can remove from play as many water monsters from my field or graveyard and summon the ultimate creature of the seas, the creature that created the oceans themselves, and that will ultimately crush you in its mighty waves." Marina went on dramatically as she selected a stack of multiple cards and removed them from the game. "I remove all of my water monsters from my field and graveyard and summon the ultimate sea monster: Kyogre, Master of the Seas!" Marina screamed as she removed from play Aqua Madoor, Neo Aqua Madoor, Water Girl, Water Omotics, Maiden of the Aqua, Aqua Spirit, Aqua Glow Lumineon, and Beautiful Aqua Princess. Then, from the depths of the water below them, the great sea creature Kyogre emerged with a massive 3000 attack and 2500 defense. "Now, with Kyogre on my side, complete victory shall be mine!" Marina laughed demonically as Kyogre became enhanced by the Seal of Orichalcos and let out a mighty roar.


	21. Chapter 21: The Eye of Timaeus

Chapter 21- The Eye of Timaeus

"Not only is Kyogre the ultimate in aquatic power, but it also has a beautiful special ability. First off, Kyogre gains 500 attack points for every extra water monster I used to fusion summon Kyogre other than the required 4." Marina began as Kyogre's power rose to a grand total of 5500 attack and 3000 defense. "Then, since I successfully summoned Kyogre, I can destroy all of your magic and trap cards. Also, you can only activate one magic or trap card each turn for the next three turns." Marina continued as both of Kristiann's trap cards were destroyed. "So sad, but there goes your last defense. And without anything to protect you, Kyogre, destroy Kristiann's puny Shining Arctic Queen!" Marina commanded with evil vigor and Kyogre let loose a devastating blast of water and energy that destroyed Kristiann's queen, reducing Kristiann's life points to 950. "Now things are not looking good." James remarked with sadness as Kristiann stood panting from the attack. "And let's not forget my Oceanic Currents card." Marina reminded as she looked at the top two cards of her deck, but put both at the bottom of her deck. "I could end my turn right here and now, but I think I'll inflict a little bit more fear into you. Like I said, I like to torment my enemies before I destroy them. So I'll equip Kyogre with my Fairy Meteor Crush spell card. Now whenever Kyogre attacks a monster in defense mode, the difference is still taken right out of your life points. In essence, it doesn't what you do next turn, I'll win. And on that note, I end my turn." Marina concluded with a darkly happy smile.

"It's not over yet." Kristiann remarked panting as she drew a card. She thought for a hopeless minute about what to do and then made her decision with a slight smile. "I activate my favorite magic card Synchronized Hearts! With this kind of power, I still have a chance in winning!" Kristiann called as she activated the symbol of her and James' bond. "Cute, but I'm afraid even that kind of pathetic power is worth nothing in comparison to me. I activate my trap card Dark Bribe, which automatically negates your magic card." Marina countered with uncaring cruelty as Kristiann's last hope of victory was shattered. "Of course, you are allowed to draw a card, but there's nothing you can draw that will help you. Consider this: you have one weak monster out on the field, you can't play any more magic or trap cards, and there's not a single monster that you could summon this turn that will prevent you from losing. Even if you place a monster in defense mode or switch your puny Dark Magician Girl to defense mode, Kyogre can still blast through it with its Fairy Meteor Crush. But don't let me distract you. Draw your last pathetic card and forfeit." Marina spoke mockingly and heartlessly. "… I guess I don't have a choice. I have one draw left, let's hope it's worth something." Kristiann said in despair as she drew her last card.

"Never give up hope!" The same female voice from before called out. Suddenly, Kristiann was blinded by a great light and her whole world was surrounded in it. When she was able to see again seconds later, she was standing in a great palace hall. In front of her were three great crystal statues of gigantic and mighty dragons. "Where am I? Wasn't I just dueling?" Kristiann asked in great confusion. "This is the great Hall of the Legendary Dragons." That soft female voice told her. Then, from behind one of the dragon statues, Dark Magician Girl stepped out and greeted Kristiann. "Wait, aren't you Dark Magician Girl? Why are we here, what's going on?" She asked again. "You are one of the chosen ones Kristiann. Ages ago, three legendary knights fought against the mighty power of the Orichalcos in a climactic battle that wiped out an entire civilization and were turned into dragons and sealed away. Centuries later, the three dragons were awakened in order to fight again against the forces of the Orichalcos and were restored to their original forms. The Orichalcos and its great beast were finally defeated once and for all and peace reigned. But now, with the one known as Yami James bringing back the Orichalcos, the knights were again turned into dragons and reverted back to their sealed crystals. And since the Orichalcos is back, three heroes were once again chosen by destiny to awaken the Legendary Dragons and defeat Yami." Dark Magician Girl explained. "And I'm one of the chosen ones? Does that mean…" Kristiann trailed off. "Yes, you must awaken one of the Legendary Dragons and with it, you can defeat Yami's dark guardian in this duel." Dark Magician Girl affirmed with a nod.

"But how do I do that? I don't even know anything about these Legendary Dragons." Kristiann asked. "Just believe in yourself and the light you hold and follow me." Dark Magician Girl answered as she began to float in the air. Then, Kristiann began to float in the air after Dark Magician Girl and the two rose up to being eye level with one of the crystal dragon statues. The dragon statue in front of them had a sword wedged into its eye. "You have been chosen to awaken the Legendary Dragon Timaeus. Pull the sword from its eye and he shall awaken." Dark Magician Girl explained. Without saying anything, Kristiann floated right up to the dragon's eye and began to pull the sword out. Immediately, light began to stream from the statue as the sword began to come out. "Now call out its name and you two shall be bonded together." Dark Magician Girl added with excitement. "Timaeus!" Kristiann yelled loudly as the sword fully came out and the dragon's mighty roar filled the room.

Light enveloped the room as Kristiann was blinded by it. When she regained her sight, she was standing back on the dock, staring down Marina and her powerful Kyogre. "I'm waiting! Draw your last pathetic card!" Marina shouted at a still slightly dazed Kristiann. "Only the legendary heroes can save the world." Dark Magician Girl's voice whispered from across the void as Kristiann looked down at her deck. The top card of Kristiann's deck was glowing with a majestic energy as Kristiann smiled and drew it. "Marina, this duel ends now, only instead it ends with my victory!" Kristiann said nobly and confidently. "What?! What could you have drawn that's so awesome that you think you can actually win?" Marina asked startled with wavering fear. "I activate the Eye of Timaeus!" Kristiann exclaimed as she played the card she just drew. Immediately, light streamed from her duel disk as the mighty blue-green dragon emerged and flew around the arena. "No, that's impossible! A legendary dragon, no way!" Marina exclaimed in obvious fear. "It's very possible Marina! And now I fuse the legendary dragon Timaeus with my Dark Magician Girl in order to form Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight!" Kristiann continued as a smiling Dark Magician Girl jumped on Timaeus' back and became a beautiful knight. Together the fusion of knight and dragon had 2600 attack and 1700 defense. "And now, Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight, attack Kyogre with legendary light blast!" Kristiann commanded as her knight charged up light energy in its sword.

"Legendary dragon or not, your monster is still weaker than my ultimate sea creature!" Marina countered with a chuckle. "That's what you think, but I have another card in my hand. Since my light monster is attacking, I can send my Honest from my hand to the graveyard in order to boost her attack by the same amount at your Kyogre." Kristiann explained as she discarded her fairy and raised Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight's attack power to an ultimate 8100. "But there's more, when my Dragon Knight attacks a monster, I can send one card from my hand to the graveyard in order to automatically destroy your monster. So I'll discard my Mystical Elf to the graveyard and destroy Kyogre." Kristiann explained as she sent her spell caster to the graveyard and, with a flash of light from Timaeus, Kyogre was destroyed. "No! Without Kyogre, I'm totally defenseless!" Marina exclaimed in fear. "Exactly. So now, Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight, attack Marina's life points directly and end this duel!" Kristiann commanded as Timaeus let out a mighty roar and shot a blast of intense light fire that combined with his knight's sword beam to create one massive blaze that consumed Marina, brining her life points down to a final 0.


	22. Chapter 22: The Calm after the Storm

Chapter 22- The Calm after the Storm

"That's it, Marina. It's over." Kristiann said to a kneeling Marina. "It's never over, not really. I may have lost now, but the war is far from ended. But here, as per the rules of being a guardian, take this." Marina gasped as she threw a card at Kristiann, who caught it. She looked at it and saw that it was Marina's Beautiful Aqua Princess. "That card fits you, I guess. More than it does me at any rate. But I digress. Like I said, I may have been defeated in all my sexy glory, but you don't stand a chance against Master Yami. So no, it doesn't end here. The party's never over, hun. Remember that." Marina said finally as the Seal fully enclosed in on her. With a flash of its green light, her soul was split from her body. The spout of water that Marina was standing on returned to the sea and Marina herself disappeared in a flurry of sparks before she even hit the ocean's surface.

"I really hate it when she calls me hun." Kristiann said with a smile as James and Jillian ran over to where she was standing on the dock. "You did it!" Jillian exclaimed loudly as she embraced Kristiann. "Good job, baby." James added encouragingly as he gave her a quick peck on the lips. "But what about the Nightmare Shard? Marina threw it to the bottom of the sea." Jillian pointed out. "That is nothing to worry about." Dark Magician Girl answered as she flew around the three. With a mighty roar from Timaeus, she raised her sword and shot a beam of light energy into the sea. With a little splash, the pale Nightmare Shard was levitated from the water by the beam of light and shattered right before their eyes. "The shard is destroyed. Kristiann, only the chosen ones can stop Yami and save the world. Please, don't let us down." Dark Magician Girl concluded in her kind voice as Timaeus let out another roar and the fusion monster disappeared. "So I guess my Dark Magician Girl helped you out. Thanks for using it in this duel." Jillian stated happily. "Yea, just who was that dragon? I don't remember you having a card like that ever." James asked confused. "I didn't, I just got this card this duel. I'm not even sure how I drew it, but I guess destiny just chose me." Kristiann conceded as she showed James and Jillian her new Eye of Timaeus card. She then explained everything about the crystal statues, the ancient legend, and the Dark Magician Girl.

"Wow, I guess Dark Magician Girl has more power than I originally thought. I knew there was a reason it's my favorite card!" Jillian exclaimed happily. "That's awesome! A legendary dragon, who knew?" James added with glee. "Yea, but there are still two other dragons sealed in crystal. I wonder who the other two chosen ones are." Kristiann thought out loud. "I don't know, but I guess we'll find out eventually. Remember what Shiek said about the two of us being chosen ones. Maybe that has something to do with the legendary dragons. Wait, that means I get a legendary dragon too!" James exclaimed happily as the two girls laughed. "I guess you're a chosen one too then. But then, who's the third one?" Jillian asked. "I don't know, I guess we'll find out eventually." James answered causing an awkward silence in the conversation.

"Wait, since Marina was defeated, that must mean that my mother's soul is back!" Jillian exclaimed loudly as she dashed into the house. James and Kristiann ran after her into the house and ran up to the room where Jillian's mother laid. "Mom? Mom, wake up!" Jillian exclaimed as she shook her mother, trying to wake her. But it was to no avail because she still slept on without a soul. "…Mom?" Jillian asked as tears began to fill her eyes. "I guess defeating Marina wasn't the way to free your mom. I guess only defeating Yami is the only way to do that." Kristiann offered. "It's ok, Jillian, we'll defeat him and free all of the souls he's taken." James said adamantly as he tried to console his friend. "You're right. There's no point in crying. I believe in you guys and I know you can defeat that demon." Jillian said as she wiped her eyes and stood up.

"But I do want to ask you guys another huge favor. My dad and brother won't be home till tomorrow night. Could you… could you maybe spend the night here? I'm just… just a little scared that's all. Having someone else in the house I think will keep me secure for the night." Jillian asked sadly. "Of course we can, if that'll make you feel better. I'll just call my parents and let them know." Kristiann answered. "Thanks, you two can sleep in the guest room, if you don't mind." Jillian thanked. "No problem, it's our pleasure." James answered. Later that night, when everyone was heading off to sleep, James returned from the bathroom and snuggled up to Kristiann in the guest room bed. "Hey, baby, you did really good today." James commented as he wrapped his arm around her. "Thanks, I did my best. I'm just lucky Timaeus came when he did." Kristiann replied. "You know what I'm lucky about?" James asked as if he knew the answer. "What?" Kristiann asked to play along. "I'm lucky to have you in my life." James replied cutely. "I love you, so much." Kristiann told James as she closed her eyes. "I love you, too. So much. Forever and ever." James whispered as he too closed his eyes and fell asleep.

"Move! And show me what you can do, when you step into the circle and shake like we do. And move, when you just, can't take it, and move if you just feel like breaking!" James's alarm blared with a Thousand Foot Krutch song. James reached his arm over and disabled the alarm. James and Kristiann woke up with a kiss and got ready for the day. As they bade farewell to Jillian and got in the car to go to school, James remembered something important. "Hey, what's today's date?" James asked as Kristiann started the car and headed off to school. "The 22th, why?" Kristiann answered. "Oh man, I almost forgot! With this whole soul-stealing quest for the Nightmare Shards I totally forgot about today's PM activity!" James exclaimed. "Forgot about what? Oh, that's right! Today we have a special guest speaker! Mr. Gonzalez told us that someone pretty famous was coming in to give a talk to the whole school. He said the guy is a professional duelist. I wonder who he could be." Kristiann remembered. "I know Mr. G didn't say the guy's name, but he seemed pretty excited about the guy coming." James added. "Yea, I guess we'll find out later." Kristiann concluded as the two drove to school for another exciting day.


	23. Chapter 23: The Professional

Chapter 23- The Professional

The day progressed as normal until the end of the last period of the day right before the PM activity in which a mysterious pro duelist visitor would give a talk. The PA system came on and told all of the students to report to the auditorium for a special visitor. "Alright everyone, just go." Mrs. Philips told her students as they all filtered out of the room. "I gotta say, I'm pretty excited about this special guest." James told his girlfriend. "Hmph, I'm sure he's a fool too, just like the rest of them." Ken remarked as he walked by the two. "Jeez, Ken, is anybody not a fool to you?!" Kristiann shouted to his back as he walked away. "Actually no, everyone I've had the misfortune of dueling is a complete and utter fool." Ken said smartly as he turned around. "Well that's only because you haven't dueled Kristiann or I yet. I'm sure either one of us could change your mind!" James replied in a challenging, nonthreatening manner. "I highly doubt that. But I'm sure there will come a day in which we find ourselves on opposite sides of the battlefield. And when that opportunity comes I'm certain I know who the victor will be." Ken said with a wicked smile. "Ken, you have the biggest ego out of anyone I know." Kristiann told him brutally. "I don't consider it having an ego. I simply consider it giving credit where credit is due." Ken concluded as he walked off.

"Well whatever, nothing is going to change his mind about himself. Besides, he does have pretty awesome hair." James said as Kristiann gave a quick laugh. "Well we'd better get going then to see this awesome guest dude." James reminded as the two started walking in the direction of the auditorium. When they got there, they took their seats in the middle of the seats, not too far back, but not too far forward. On stage, there was a podium with a microphone but no one was on the stage at the time. "I guess he's running a little late." James offered. "Hey you guys are James and Kristiann, right? Imagine seeing you again here." A male voice called as a short black-haired boy slid into the seat right behind the two. James and Kristiann turned around to see who it was and were surprised to find it was an old friend of theirs. "Mokuba? What are you doing here?" Kristiann asked their old acquaintance. "I could ask you two the same thing, but I guess you both go to school here. I'm here to see that super awesome guest guy your school is giving such a hype over." Mokuba told them. "Us too. Do you know who the guy is? Mr. Gonzalez is making him seem like he's the best duelist ever." James asked the boy. "Of course I know who the guy is! And yes, he is the best duelist ever." Mokuba answered.

"Well then out with it, who is it?" James asked impatiently. "Well, it's my big brother of course!" Mokuba answered proudly. As if on cue, then the big man walked out onto the stage, much to the happiness and applause of the audience. He wore his signature black shirt and white coat and seemed to own the stage as well as he owned his precious company. "Wow, Seto Kaiba is the professional! Awesome!" James said in awe as he sat back into his seat to listen to the words of wisdom from the brown haired blue eyed master. "Greetings to everyone gathered here and thank you for allowing me to speak to all of you. Of course, the pleasure is all yours." Kaiba began in his typical fashion. Kaiba then proceeded to talk all about dueling and Kaiba Corp and such things. The audience all listened intently until his time was up and he left the stage with massive ovation. "Wow, Mokuba, your big brother is pretty awesome!" Kristiann told Mokuba happily. "Isn't he? Would you like to meet him? I'm sure he'd be thrilled to talk face to face with the tag team champions." Mokuba offered. "That would be awesome, thanks!" James said excitedly. "Alright, then follow me!" Mokuba exclaimed as he led the pair backstage. "I can't believe we're actually going to talk face to face with Seto Kaiba! I mean, we saw him from a distance at the KC Grand Championship, but we've never actually talked to him." James bounced a bit as he walked. When they reached backstage, they walked back into the green room where Kaiba was sitting on a green couch.

"Big brother, James and Kristiann here really wanted to meet you. You remember them, right? From the Grand Championship?" Mokuba said as James and Kristiann followed them up to the man. "Ah, yes, James and Kristiann, it's good to meet you face to face." Seto Kaiba said as he shook Kristiann's hand. "No really, the pleasure's all ours!" James said in a foolish manner as he danced up to Kaiba and also shook his hand. "Um, yes, I guess it is. Anyways, I really must be going though. I am a very busy man. See you kids later." Kaiba said as if annoyed as he turned to walk away. "Is that all you really have to say to them, big brother?" Mokuba asked. "Yes, Mokuba, it is. As much as I love idle chatter, like I said, I am a very busy person. There's so much money to make and so little time. So we had best be going." Kaiba snidely remarked as he headed for the door. "But you can't leave just yet, Mr. Kaiba. Not until you've seen the best this school has to offer." A familiar voice called from the other doorway to the green room. Standing just inside the doorway was none other than Ken, wearing his same dark grin. "And just who are you?" Kaiba asked indifferently. "I am only the best duelist in the world, Mr. Kaiba. My name is Ken Ichijouji, the master of this school's dueling club." Ken replied smartly. "The best duelist in the world? Get real kid. I don't have time for wannabes like you." Kaiba told Ken as he turned around again. "Mr. Kaiba, since the moment you walked out on that stage, I knew right away you were a remarkable duelist with an extremely powerful soul. So naturally I want to put your acclaimed skills to the test. So, will you face me in a duel, Mr. Kaiba?" Ken challenged.

"Well it doesn't take a genius to tell that I'm a remarkable duelist. But no one challenges me like that. And if anyone does, then don't think I'm going to back down. If it'll shut you up, kid, then yes, I'll duel you." Kaiba said annoyed to Ken's face. "Excellent, an admirable choice. Then shall we take this to the school's courtyard?" Ken offered. "Wherever you want, kid." Kaiba responded. The group of James, Kristiann, Ken, Kaiba, and Mokuba all walked out to the school's courtyard where Kaiba and Ken walked to opposite sides of the area. Kaiba opened up his briefcase, took out his deck and duel disk, and handed the empty briefcase back to Mokuba. "This won't take long." Kaiba told his little brother.

"Wow, Seto Kaiba is actually going to duel and we're going to watch! This is so awesome!" James exclaimed very excitedly. "Yea, I'm pretty excited too. It's like the ultimate battle of the egos." Kristiann added. "Are you ready, Mr. Kaiba?" Ken asked with a faint evil smile. "Of course, kid, just who do you take me for?" Kaiba replied as the two opponents activated their duel disks and set their life points to 4000. "Let's duel!"


	24. Chapter 24: Dragons in the Dark Ocean

Chapter 24- Dragons in the Dark Ocean

"Since your way out of league, I'll let you make the first move." Kaiba offered sarcastically. "I'm sure you'll regret it later, but as you wish." Ken replied as he drew a card. "To begin, I'll summon my Dark Ocean Servant in defense mode." Ken began as his little green worm emerged with 400 attack and 600 defense. "That'll end my turn." Ken concluded. "You call that an opening move?! And I thought you said you were the best. I was a least expecting something respectable." Kaiba remarked, but Ken simply smiled. "Why would Ken just play one weak monster in defense mode? That's so unlike him." Kristiann pointed out. "Actually, it's just like Ken. He always thinks things out to the tee. So I'm sure he's got a plan for that monster." James commented. "I summon my Spear Dragon in attack mode!" Kaiba called after he drew his card. His dragon let out a battle cry as it emerged with 1900 attack and 0 defense. "Now, Spear Dragon, attack this kid's little worm with cyclone blast attack!" Kaiba commanded as his dragon blew a blast of wind at Ken's insect, destroying it and dropping Ken's life points to 2700.

"You may have destroyed my Servant, but as James so aptly pointed out, I have a plan. You see, my Servant's special ability allows me to special a Dark Ocean monster directly from my deck if my Dark Ocean Servant is destroyed in battle. So I choose to summon my Warrior of the Dark Ocean to the field in attack mode." Ken explained as his dark warrior emerged with 1700 attack and 1400 defense. "But that's not the end of my master plan. When my Warrior of the Dark Ocean is summoned to the field, I can add one Dark Ocean field spell to my hand." Ken added as he added his Dark Ocean card to his hand. "Dark Ocean or not, you still don't stand a chance against me. My Spear Dragon may be forced to be switched to defense mode, but I can back him up with these two facedown cards. That'll end my turn." Kaiba concluded. "Of course it will, there's nothing you can do to delay the inevitable." Ken said smartly as he drew a card.

"First, I'll summon my Dark Ocean Diver in attack mode." Ken began as his dark scuba diver emerged with 1100 attack and 900 defense. "Now I'll activate my all powerful field spell Dark Ocean!" Ken exclaimed as he slid the card into his duel disk. "Not so fast, Ken. Unlike you, I actually have a worthwhile counter. I activate Magic Drain. Now you're magic card is negated and destroyed, unless of course you discard a magic card from your hand to the graveyard. But either way I destroy one of your magic cards. So make your choice." Kaiba countered. "I think I'll choose to discard my Dark Ocean Virus card from my hand. So my Dark Ocean still comes into effect." Ken chose as the field suddenly turned into the dark waters of the mighty Dark Ocean. "And with this field spell now in play, all dark and water monsters gain 500 attack and all none dark and water monster lose that attack power." Ken explained as his Warrior's attack points rose to 2200, his Diver's attack points rose to 1600, and Kaiba's Dragon's attack points fell to 1400. "Now, Dark Ocean Diver, destroy Spear Dragon!" Ken commanded.

"Did you think you could get ahead of me that easily? I activate my trap card Negate Attack, which blocks all the attacks of your monsters this turn." Kaiba countered. "Very well, I lay one card facedown and end my turn." Ken concluded. "This Ken guy is actually not that bad. But there's no way he can beat my big brother!" Mokuba said encouragingly from the side lines. "I draw." Kaiba stated as he did indeed draw his card. "Then I'll summon my Vorse Raider in attack mode!" Kaiba called as his beast-warrior emerged with 1900 attack and 1200 defense, which was boosted to 2400 attack due to Dark Ocean's effect. "That's all very cute and all, Kaiba, but I have something that will also help me out. I activate Genius Rivalry, which allows me to summon a monster from my deck of the same level as the monster you just summoned." Ken explained.

"So now I call forth my level four Dark Ocean Gainer from the depths of my deck." Ken called as his fiend emerged with 1500 attack and 1700 defense, which were boosted to 2000 attack due to Dark Ocean's effect. "It doesn't matter what kind of monster you summon, mine can still break through them. Vorse Raider, attack Dark Ocean Diver!" Kaiba commanded as his monster rushed forward with its mighty axe. "Did you forget about my Dark Ocean Gainer, Kaiba? While he can't stop your attack, once per turn I gain life points equal to your monster's attack points." Ken said as his life points rose to 4600. "That may be, but like you said, it can't stop the rampage of my Vorse Raider." Kaiba continued as his monster continued to rip apart Ken's monster, bringing his life points back down to 4000. "I'll lay two more cards facedown and then end my turn." Kaiba concluded.

"Exactly, we may have equal life points once again for now, but believe me, that won't last too long." Ken said mockingly as he drew a card. "I couldn't agree more. It won't take me much longer to win." Kaiba replied smartly. "We'll see. I summon my Dark Ocean Raven in attack mode." Ken called as his dark winged creature emerged with 800 attack, boosted to 1300, and 500 defense. "Now, Warrior of the Dark Ocean, attack and destroy Spear Dragon." Ken then commanded as his warrior slashed apart Kaiba's dragon. "And now, Dark Ocean Raven, attack Kaiba directly!" Ken then added as his bird took flight and flew straight towards Kaiba. "What do you think you're doing? I still have Vorse Raider on the field!" Kaiba exclaimed. "Yes, but as long as Dark Ocean is on my side of the field, my Raven can attack your life points directly, regardless of how many monsters you have on the field." Ken explained with a smirk as his Raven pecked Kaiba right in the side and dropped his life points to 2700. "And also when my Raven does damage to your life points, I'm allowed to draw a card." Ken then added.

"Wow, those two are evenly matched. It's like no one can get a clear lead." Kristiann commented. "No way, my big brother is way stronger than that wannabe!" Mokuba countered. "I lay just one card facedown and end my turn." Ken concluded. "You know, kid, you're starting to get on my nerves. But this ends here!" Kaiba exclaimed as he drew a card. "I activate the magic of Soul Exchange! With this card, I can sacrifice one of your monsters to summon a monster rather than one of my own. But in this case, I'll sacrifice both my Vorse Raider and your Dark Ocean Gainer in order to summon my ultimate creature: The Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Kaiba exclaimed loudly as both monsters were sacrificed and with a blaze of light and a mighty roar, Kaiba's favorite monster emerged from the sky with 3000 attack, lowered to 2500 due to the Dark Ocean, and 2500 defense. "Awesome! It's Kaiba's famous Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Ken doesn't stand a chance now!" James exclaimed happily.

"My Blue-Eyes might not be able to attack this turn, but he'll still be around next turn to blast you then!" Kaiba explained. "But for now, I end my turn." Kaiba then concluded. "Very impressive Kaiba, it's your favorite monster. But I'm afraid he won't be around as much as you would like him to." Ken said ominously as he drew a card. "And to prove that I'll summon my Dark Ocean Phantom Ship in attack mode." Ken began as his ghostly ship emerged with 1400 attack, boosted to 1900, and 2100 defense. "But, like all of my monsters, my Dark Ocean Phantom Ship has an interesting special ability: If I discard one card from my hand, I can search my deck for a Dark Ocean monster and add it to my hand. And I know exactly which one I'm going to choose." Ken said ominously with an evil grin as he discarded a card. "What could Ken be smirking about now? There's not too many monsters out there that can defeat Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon… oh no! Ken still has that super monster he used on Mr. DeNote! I'm sure that what's he's searching for now!" Kristiann commented.

"How very perceptive of you. Indeed I am searching my deck for my ultimate creature who I can now summon to the field. I sacrifice my Dark Ocean Raven, my Warrior of the Dark Ocean, and my Dark Ocean Phantom Ship in order to summon my Dark Ocean Leviathan!" Ken exclaimed loudly as clouds swarmed the Dark Ocean and his great serpent rose from the depths with 3700 attack and 3800 defense. "Now feel the wrath of my ultimate dark creature! I activate the special ability of my Dark Ocean Leviathan! Now I can destroy your precious Blue-Eyes and deduct his attack points from your life points!" Ken laughed, but Kaiba also smirked. "Did you really think I'd let you destroy my Blue-Eyes that easily? I activate my trap card Dragon Unity Shield! I can activate this whenever one of my dragons is targeted by one of your card effects. Not only does it negate the effect, but now I can also summon a dragon with the same name from my deck. So now I call forth another Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Kaiba countered dramatically as another one of his favorite dragons emerged with the reduced 2500 attack and 2500 defense.

"You think that matters?! My plans are foolproof! Dark Ocean Leviathan destroy one of Kaiba's Blue-Eyes!" Ken commanded as his great sea serpent unleashed a massive blast of water and darkness that destroyed Kaiba's monster and reduced his life points to 1500. "That's enough punishment for now. I end my turn." Ken concluded satisfied. "You know, kid, you're not that bad of a duelist. But you have made some pretty bad mistakes and the first was challenging me!" Kaiba remarked as he drew his card. "It ends for you here and now and I'll do so with my true ultimate monster!" Kaiba began dramatically. "First I activate Monster Reborn to bring back the Blue-Eyes that you destroyed last turn." Kaiba began his power play by reviving his fallen dragon. "Then I activate the fusing power of Polymerization to fuse the two Blue-Eyes White Dragons on the field with the one in my hand in order to create the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Kaiba exclaimed loudly and dramatically as his three dragons fused together to create the ultimate dragon with 4500 attack and 3800 defense.

"No way, the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" James exclaimed in awe. "Now, Blue-Eyes, destroy his Leviathan with ultimate burst stream!" Kaiba commanded as his three-headed dragon fused its attack into one electrical destroyer that pierced Ken's monster and destroyed it in a blaze of light and static energy, knocking Ken's life points down to 3200. "So, kid, have you learned your lesson yet?" Kaiba asked in a most serious way but Ken simply bowed his head and laughed. "Kaiba, like I said, I sensed an extremely powerful soul in you, and I'm never wrong. Just as I predicted you'll make the perfect offering." Ken laughed ominously. "What is that supposed to mean? What are you talking about?" Kaiba asked annoyed. "Rather than tell you, why don't I show you?" Ken continued ominously as he drew a card.

"First I activate the magic of Giant Trunade to return my Dark Ocean field spell to my hand. Then I activate the magic card Genius Rush. With this card I can discard one card from my hand in order to search my deck for a same type of card. In simple terms that you all could understand, I can send my Dark Ocean field spell to the graveyard in order to search my deck for another field spell." Ken explained. "A different field spell? But I thought Dark Ocean was his best." Kristiann thought out loud. "While my Dark Ocean is powerful, its child's play compared to this card, which I shall finally reveal to you." Ken told them still ominously as the field spell slot opened up in his duel disk. "Powerful field spell… no there's no way! Not Ken!" James exclaimed in realization as to what card Ken held. "I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!" Ken shouted loudly and insanely as a green light surrounded him, changing all the rules of the game and taking it to a much darker level.


	25. Chapter 25: The Emperor's New Clothes

Chapter 25- The Emperor's New Clothes

The green light of the Orichalcos surrounded Ken and soon the cursed circle encompassed both him and Kaiba in its dark clutches. But as the intense light of the Orichalcos faded from Ken's body, it became apparent that his appearance had drastically changed. Now, we wore a dark blue outfit and a long navy blue cape. He wore equally as dark blue sunglasses and had dark blue spiked hair. Even his duel disk turned into a chaos duel disk. But of course, the crown of his makeover was the symbol of the Seal of Orichalcos that appeared on his forehead. "At last, my true form is revealed!" Ken exclaimed loudly. "Just who are you, kid? And where did you get that card?" Kaiba asked very shocked. "What's going on Ken?!" Kristiann also inquired. "It's quite simple actually. But I wouldn't expect you fools to figure it all out, so I might as well tell you the whole truth." Ken began. "You see, when the fools that run this school took me in as an 'exchange student' they didn't even bother to second guess my lack of background. That is of course, because I have no background. I was created by the Master Yami and was told to bring in the souls of strong duelists using this ultimate card. However since everyone in this school is an absolute imbecile, I didn't deem any of their souls worthy. So I simply watched and waited for the perfect opportunity to reveal myself and claim a strong soul.

I began by entering your dueling club and taking out that complete novice Daniel. But considering I defeated him in two turns, it was obvious he was not even worthy of my playing the Seal of Orichalcos. Then came the prospect of dueling a teacher here, your dear Mr. DeNote. But he too was too weak to be considered a worthy offering to Master Yami. So I kept waiting. My intention then was to eventually find a reason to challenge either James or Kristiann, but then you came along Kaiba, and I knew a legendary duelist such as yourself would make the perfect sacrifice. And that's where we stand now, Kaiba. Once I defeat you, your strong soul will continue to fuel Master Yami's rebirth and darkness will consume the world!" Ken laughed. "But if you were created by Yami… does that mean that you're one of the guardians? But you don't have a Nightmare Shard!" James asked. "Of course it was too risky to carry the shard with me, so I hid it in its original place under an invisible barrier of darkness." Ken answered as he raised his gloved hand. Immediately, a flash of purple from under one of the nearby benches alerted the presence of one of the Nightmare Shards. The shard flew from its place under the bench to Ken's open hand. He caught it and placed it around his neck.

"You really are a bunch of fools. Every duel I've played took place in this courtyard, so obviously that must be where the shard was hidden. And in this case, it was under that bench. Any guesses why?" Ken asked though he obviously knew the answer. "The bench… of course! That's where I asked Kristiann out over a year ago!" James exclaimed in realization. "Precisely. That little maneuver cost Master Yami a great deal. But that shall be avenged soon enough. As soon as Kaiba here gives up his soul that is." Ken laughed. "Now listen here, I don't care who you are or all of this magic crap you claim. The only solution to this duel is my victory, putting your little act to nothing." Kaiba replied. "That's what you think, Kaiba, but you can't escape your fate. And your fate is indeed to fall to me here today." Ken stated.

"I've dealt enough with people claiming that fate determines all of their wins and losses. And you know what happened to them? I defeated all of them. And I'll do that same to you. So shut up with this whole evil mind trick and let's finish this duel!" Kaiba retorted angrily. "As you wish Kaiba, it's your soul on the line. But I'll grant your request and summon my Evil Hero Infernal Prodigy, a genius of darkness, much like myself. If I have no monsters on the field, I can automatically special summon him." Ken explained as his fiendish man emerged with 300 attack and 600 defense. "But the fun doesn't end there, Kaiba. Now I sacrifice my worthless Prodigy in order to summon Caius the Shadow Monarch!" Ken exclaimed as his dark ruler emerged with 2400 attack and 1000 defense, boosted to 2900 attack and 1500 defense by the Seal of Orichalcos. "And my first emperor has a very nice special ability: when he's summoned to the field, I can remove one of your monsters directly from play. So now I can remove your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon from the game!" Ken explained as his shadowy lord threw an orb of purple energy at Kaiba's dragon, creating a vortex and removing it from play. "And without any monsters to protect you, Caius, attack Kaiba's life points directly!" Ken commanded as his shadow king launched another shadow orb at Kaiba. "You may think that I'm just going to give up without a fight. You're dead wrong. I activate my trap card Magical Trick Mirror! This trap lets me copy the ability of one card from your graveyard. So I'll copy Dark Ocean Gainer's effect to increase my life points before I lose them." Kaiba countered as the shadow orb hit him. "Since I gained and lost the same amount of life points, they haven't changed at all." Kaiba stated as the smoke cleared.

"You'll fall eventually, it doesn't matter. I end my turn." Ken concluded smugly. "Not only does Ken have a totally new wardrobe, but his attitude just got ten times worse!" Mokuba stated. "I know he doesn't even have awesome hair anymore. I just hope Kaiba is up to this new challenge." James responded. "I don't know if this little stunt you're pulling has any actual merit to it, but the truth of the matter is that this duel belongs to me." Kaiba said adamantly as he drew a card. "When your attack connected with me last turn, I had no cards on the field since my Mirror was already off the field when your attack hit. Since I had no cards on the field, I can now special summon Gorz the Emissary of Darkness to the field in attack mode." Kaiba stated as his warrior fiend emerged with 2700 attack and 2500 defense.

"Whenever I lose life points when I have no cards on my field, I can summon Gorz the Emissary of Darkness to the field. And since I lost life points due to an attack, I can also call forth an Emissary of Darkness Token with the same amount of attack points that I just lost." Kaiba explained. "You think you're clever and can outwit me, but my authority reigns supreme in this duel. I activate my trap card: By Order of the Emperor. This card remains in play however long I demand and activates every time an effect is activated by a monster being summoned. I can negate that effect automatically. However you do get to draw a card, but since you don't own a card that can help, it doesn't matter." Ken explained as Kaiba drew his card and his token was not summoned. "That's what you think, but Gorz begs to differ. First I activate Rush Recklessly to increase his attack power by 700 for one turn. Thanks for the card." Kaiba said sarcastically as his fiend's attack points rose to 3400. "Now, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, destroy Caius the Shadow Monarch!" Kaiba called as his fiend slashed Ken's monster with its dark sword, reducing Ken's life points to 2700. "You think a simple attack like that can defy my reign. Nothing can stop me!" Ken laughed mockingly. "Maybe not for now, but soon enough. I lay two cards facedown and end my turn." Kaiba concluded as Gorz's attack points returned to normal.

"Not now and not ever, Kaiba." Ken said as he drew a card. "I activate Monster Reincarnation. This allows me to add one monster card from my graveyard to my hand at the cost of one card from my hand." Ken said as he discarded a card from his hand and put one monster back into it. "And now I think I'll summon my monster back to the field. I summon the puny Dark Ocean Servant in attack mode." Ken stated as his worm again emerged. "That's the best you can come up with! You really are a joke!" Kaiba mocked. "Yea, why would Ken bring back such a weak monster with all the strong he has in his graveyard?" Mokuba asked out loud. "You fools have no sense of strategy. And that's what separates people like from people like you. I brought my weak servant back in order to activate this card: Metamorphosis! With this I can sacrifice my Dark Ocean Servant in order to summon my Emperor's Emissary!" Ken explained as his worm was transformed to a great stinging insect with 2400 attack and 1800 defense. "And my loyal servant has a unique special ability: when I summon him to the field, I can also special summon one monarch monster from my hand or deck. So I also summon Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch in attack mode." Ken laughed as his fiery king emerged with 2400 attack and 1000 defense. But then the Seal of Orichalcos infected both of his monsters, boosting their power to both having 2900 attack, Emissary having 2300 defense, and Thestalos having 1500 defense. "The Seal of Orichalcos gives my monsters all the power they need to destroy you. But trust me, the worst is still yet to come!" Ken laughed maniacally.


	26. Chapter 26: The Reign of the Emperor

Chapter 26- The Reign of the Emperor

"Like I said Kaiba, this duel shall end soon. Now my Emissary, attack Gorz with spiking strike attack!" Ken commanded as his insect flew forward with its arm stinger poised forward. "I don't think so, I activate my trap card Shadow Spell. This card decreases your monster's attack points by 700 and makes it unable to attack or change its battle position." Kaiba countered as the chains flew out of the card and ensnared Ken's monster, decreasing its attack points to 2200. "Whatever, I have more than enough power to crush you. Thestalos, finish where my Emissary left off and destroy Gorz!" Ken then commanded as his fiery monarch threw a ball of fire at Kaiba's monster, destroying it in a blaze and reducing his life points to 1300. "I'll lay one card facedown and end my turn." Ken concluded.

"You do that." Kaiba remarked sarcastically as he drew a card. "Now I summon my Spirit Reaper to the field in defense mode." Kaiba stated as his grim reaper monster emerged with 300 attack and 200 defense. "And now to rid the field of all your powerful creatures with this ultimate trap card. I activate my Crush Card Virus! Now I just have to offer up my Spirit Reaper and all monsters with over 1500 attack points in your field, hand, and deck are automatically destroyed!" Kaiba exclaimed as his virus began to infect his Reaper. "That's decently clever, Kaiba, but I'm afraid that goes against my ultimate authority. I activate my trap card Royal Decree! As long as remains on the field, the effects of all trap cards are negated. Nice try though." Ken countered as Kaiba's trap was negated and destroyed.

"In that case, I have no choice but to end my turn." Kaiba concluded. "For once we agree on something." Ken said with a grin as he drew a card. "Well whether or not we agree on anything, I couldn't care less. Because with this card, I can enforce my will upon everyone and everything, one way or another. I activate Control Spire!" Ken stated as a giant black obelisk rose up from the ground. "As long as this card is on the field, once per turn, I can claim the effect of one card in your graveyard and use it. "And that, my underling, spells the end for you. First I activate the effect of my Control Spire and use the Monster Reborn card in your graveyard to call back Caius the Shadow Monarch." Ken began as his shadowy king again emerged with a total of 2900 attack and 1500 defense. "But then I activate one of my favorite cards and one that will complete my rise to power. I activate The Emperor's Absolute! And here's how it works: I can automatically summon a monster of the same level as one on my field from my deck. In order words, since I have a level six monster on the field, I can summon another level six monster from my deck. But then I can also summon another level six monster to your side of the field, if I so choose. So I'll summon Zaborg the Thunder Monarch to my side of the field and Granmarg the Rock Monarch to yours." Ken explained as both of the rulers emerged, Zaborg with a boosted 2900 attack and 1000 defense, and Granmarg with 2400 attack and 1000 defense.

"But why would Ken summon such a strong monster to my big brother's side of the field?" Mokuba asked no one in particular. "That's a good question. Ken must have something big up his sleeve." James commented. "That's a very good observation, maybe you do have a few brain cells left. I summoned a monster to your side of the field so that I could activate this: Super Polymerization! This card is the ultimate in fusion power and is able to not only able to fuse monsters on my side of the field, but ones on yours too. So I fuse together my Emissary, Caius the Shadow Monarch, Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, and Granmarg the Rock Monarch in order to form my ultimate servant!" Ken exclaimed loudly as a great vortex swirled around the field, breaking the chains on Ken's Emperor's Emissary and drawing in all the monarchs towards it. "Arise, Emperor's Great Beast Kimeramon!" Ken shouted loudly as his mixed-matched beast emerged with 4000 attack and 2000 defense, boosted to 4500 attack and 2500 defense due to the Seal of Orichalcos. "Now, Kimeramon, you serve me!" Ken shouted as his great fiend let out a mighty roar and the Seal on both of their foreheads glowed a bit brighter for a second.

"Now that the ultimate creature belongs to me, I can activate his ability: whenever he's summoned, I must destroy up to three magic or trap cards on the field. So I choose to destroy your facedown card, and my two traps! Kimeramon, let loose your rampage of destruction on them all!" Ken commanded as his beast shattered all three cards. "This is crazy! He's destroying his own cards even! It's like all he cares about is the power!" Mokuba exclaimed. "But of course, the power is the best part. But since your Spirit Reaper can't be destroyed in battle, Kimeramon's fury will have to wait until later. I end my turn." Ken concluded. "Then it's up to me to win in this turn." Kaiba stated dramatically as he drew a card. "First I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards." Kaiba began as he drew his cards. Then Kaiba glanced over his hand before letting out a sigh. "I lay two cards facedown and that ends my turn." Kaiba sighed.

"Oh course it does! My reign of terror is unstoppable!" Ken laughed evilly as he drew a card. "And now, Kaiba, it all ends here for you. I activate the magic card Dark Ring. Granted I may not be able to activate the effects of my Control Spire this turn, but since my Control Spire is standing tall, I can take control of your Spirit Reaper and make it my slave!" Ken laughed as his black ring flew from the top of the black spire and attached itself to Spirit Reaper. "But since you targeted by Spirit Reaper by a magic or trap card, it's automatically destroyed. Oh well." Kaiba said as the monster was destroyed along with the Dark Ring. "You think I didn't know that?! It was all part of my plan because now you're left totally defenseless. So now, Kimeramon, destroy Kaiba once and for all and bring his soul to me!" Ken commanded with a flash of the Seal on his forehead as Kimeramon shot a blaze of green fire directly at Kaiba.

"You should know by now that I don't give up that easily. Now that your Royal Decree is gone, I can activate my trap card Return from the Different Dimension! As long as I give up half of my life points, I can summon all of my monsters that you removed from play." Kaiba explained as his life points were cut to 650. "So now, come back to me, my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Kaiba exclaimed as his dragon re-emerged with a mighty roar, 4500 attack points, and 3800 defense points. "But since both of their monsters have the same amount of attack points, they'll destroy each other!" James exclaimed as the green fireball connected with Kaiba's dragon and filled the area with smoke. "What?! What's going on? Explain yourself!" Ken demanded when the smoke cleared and he saw that Kimeramon still stood along with three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, each with 3000 attack and 2500 defense. "Before your monster's attack hit I activated my De-Fusion card from my hand, splitting my ultimate dragon into the three Blue-Eyes used to create it." Kaiba explained.

"How foolish of you, now my Kimeramon can easily destroy your weak dragons!" Ken laughed. "That's what you think, but I have one last trap card that might change your mind. I activate Two-Pronged Attack! Now I can destroy two of my monsters in order to destroy one of yours. So I sacrifice two of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons in order to destroy Kimeramon!" Kaiba called out as his two dragons picked up Kimeramon and they both were destroyed in a flash of light. "No, but that means…!" Ken trailed off as he saw his fate in the future. "Precisely, you're totally defenseless. Now my final Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack Ken's life points directly and put an end to this madness!" Kaiba yelled dramatically as his dragon let out a roar and then charged up a white lighting blast in its mouth. "No, it can't end like this!" Ken exclaimed wide-eyed as he saw the destructive burst stream headed straight for him.


	27. Chapter 27: Kaiba's Decision

Chapter 27- Kaiba's Decision

Ken screamed loudly as the flash of white lightning enveloped him and reduced his life points down to 0. In the column of energy that was formed, Ken flashed back and forth between his two forms, but ultimately retained his emperor form as the energy column faded. "There's no… possible way… this could've happened." Ken panted as he sunk to his knees. "Actually, there is a possible way. I'm just better than you." Kaiba remarked sarcastically. "Better than me? Now that is impossible. But I do admit, you were perhaps a worthy adversary to me. Here take this card, it describes the kind of control Master Yami will soon have over the world." Ken replied as he tossed The Emperor's Absolute magic card to Kaiba. "I have nothing left to say." Ken then stated as the Seal of Orichalcos completely circled in on and him and, with a beam of green light to the sky, separated Ken's soul from his body. Ken flickered once more between his two forms, but ultimately fell an emperor as his body dissolved in tiny sparks of light before his body hit the ground.

"Good riddance." Kaiba remarked as he tossed his new card to James. "Here, I don't really need this card. Just take it." Kaiba said uncaring as James caught the card. "Are you sure Kaiba? Thanks!" James thanked as he pocketed the card. "Don't worry, I pay you back some day." James promised with a smile. "Don't bother. But perhaps you can clear up one thing. Just who was that loser and how did he get a hold of the Seal of Orichalcos card?" Kaiba asked. "Well you see, Kaiba it's a bit of a long story…" Kristiann trailed off. "I may be a busy man, but when it comes to something like this, I do have a bit of time. This is an important issue that I must address." Kaiba stated. "Wait, Kaiba, have you seen the Seal of Orichalcos before?" James asked. "Yes, I have. Not too long ago, a madman named Dartz used the Seal of Orichalcos to take over my company. Luckily Yugi and I defeated him using the Legendary Dragons." Kaiba explained. "Didn't Joey Wheeler also get a Legendary Dragon and help defeat Dartz?" Mokuba asked. "Shut up Mokuba, Wheeler doesn't deserve the credit." Kaiba snapped.

"Wait, a Legendary Dragon? You mean like Timaeus?" Kristiann asked as she showed Kaiba the card. "How do you have that card?! Explain everything to me!" Kaiba demanded wide-eyed. "Well you see, about a year ago, Kristiann and I dueled against my evil side. With the power of our love, we overcame his power and the Seal of Orichalcos and trapped him forever." James began. "That's every touching. But you said he used the Seal of Orichalcos. Where did he get that card?" Kaiba asked again. "I'm not actually too sure. He just played it early on in the duel and when it was over, it took his soul." Kristiann answered. "Hmm, go on. Where does that emperor character come in?" Kaiba asked again as he began to grow impatient.

"Well the truth is, he wasn't trapped forever. About a week ago, I heard his voice whispering to me. That night, his shadow appeared and stole the souls of my family. Then he told us that when we defeated him, we released seven parts of his soul around the areas. Those parts of his soul are now contained in the Nightmare Shards." James explained further. "So now, we're on a quest to destroy all seven of them before Yami can use their power to revive himself and consume the world in darkness. But each shard has a guardian protecting it that we've had to defeat in a duel. So far three of the shards have been destroyed." Kristiann added. "So these crystals contain the powers of darkness that you're trying to destroy?" Kaiba asked as he picked up the now pale shard that Ken left behind. "Oops, make that four shards destroyed now." Kaiba said seriously as he purposely dropped the crystal and it shattered when it hit the concrete. "Alright, thanks Kaiba! Does that mean you're going to help us on our quest?" James asked hopefully. Kaiba turned and looked at him and gave him a most serious face. "Now let's get one thing straight. While it may be true that the legendary dragon cards and the Seal of Orichalcos are back, I could really care less about your little charade. So no, I'm not going to help you do anything. And on that note…" Kaiba trailed off as he hit the KC logo on his collar and a few seconds later his helicopter came flying above the courtyard. "Kaiba, wait! We could really use your help!" James shouted as a ladder dropped down and Kaiba and Mokuba jumped on. "You know, I really don't care. But good luck. Or not, again I don't really care." Kaiba answered as him and Mokuba scrambled up to the top.

"Hit it, Roland." Kaiba commanded as the door shut and the helicopter flew off. "Big brother, don't you think we should at least do something?" Mokuba asked his brother as they flew away. "Mokuba, I told you, I don't care. For one thing, I'm not sure their whole battle between good and evil really has anything concrete to it. And even if it does, which is very unlikely, it's not my problem." Kaiba finalized. "But big brother, you saw how Ken just disappeared after you defeated him. That must mean something is going on. Besides, James and Kristiann are friends of mine. Please we have to do something!" Mokuba pleaded. Kaiba thought for a moment in silence and then gave his verdict. "Fine, we'll stay in town for three days. If anything happens in that time, then we'll help. But if not, then we're going home and forgetting all about this." Kaiba stated. "Alright, good enough, I guess. Thanks." Mokuba said.

Back on the ground, James and Kristiann watched as Kaiba's helicopter flew away. "He may be a bit of a jerk, but he's still awesome." James stated. "I guess so. But what do we do now?" Kristiann asked. "Well I guess we've got nothing left to do but continue our search without him. Besides, I'm sure he'll be back at some point. I still owe him a card." James answered. "Alright, then we'll go to Owney and see Sheik right? Should we go tonight or tomorrow?" Kristiann asked. "I think we should head over now and then take out the shard tomorrow. Since tomorrow's Saturday, we can start bright and early." James answered. "Alright then, let's go!" Kristiann agreed as the two walked out to her car and drove off to Owney Park to see Sheik and find out the location of the next Nightmare Shard.


	28. Chapter 28: The Holy Shard

Chapter 28- The Holy Shard

Kristiann parked her car and James and her stepped out and walked into the main area of Owney Park. "Congratulations, you've disposed of two Shards since our last encounter." Sheik said as he jumped down from the tree in front of them. "Yea, we took out the one you told us about and then Ken, one of the guardians attacked at our school. But we defeated him and destroyed the shard." Kristiann affirmed. "You mean Kaiba defeated him and destroyed the shard." Sheik corrected. "Yea, that's right. Seto Kaiba, the president of Kaiba Corp showed up and defeated Ken." James agreed. "James, Kristiann… you are doing a very good job. Destiny is in great hands with you on the job. There are only three shards left, and because of that, your quest is nearing a conclusion. I have full confidence that you are the only ones who can save our world." Sheik told them emotionally, but still as serious as ever.

"Aw, thanks Sheik. But I do have a quick question for you. During my duel with Marina, I awakened the legendary dragon Timaeus and Dark Magician Girl explained the whole legend to me." Kristiann began. "Ah yes, the legendary dragons. I too know the legends." Sheik replied. "If there are three legendary dragons and there's only James and I on the quest, then who gets the third dragon?" Kristiann asked. "You are correct in assuming that James will awaken one of the dragons. And you already have a dragon. As for the third dragon… I cannot say." Sheik replied. "You don't know who gets to awaken the third dragon at all?" Kristiann asked further. "… Destiny shall make it clear in due time. But you have already met the third chosen person. Be patient, and the truth shall be revealed to you soon enough." Sheik replied cryptically.

"Speaking of the truth being revealed, can you at least tell us where the next shard is hidden?" James asked, changing the subject. "Yes, that I can reveal to you." Sheik answered as he put his hands to his chest and began to focus energy there. "I see the next shard!" Sheik stated when he opened his eyes again. "This is a strange one. I see forces of light at work, but I also see an amble amount of darkness. It's as if both light and darkness are present at this location. As far as location goes… I see a large church building. But the shard is not there… it's in the building next to it, the parish center. I'm sure you know where that is." Sheik revealed. "Of course, I practically live there! I guess it kind of makes sense that the next Shard is at St. Michael's considering I spend so much time there." James answered. "Go figure, but it makes sense. Both things of light and darkness happen there." Kristiann agreed. "Thanks Sheik, we'll head over there first thing tomorrow morning." James told him, but this time Sheik did not disappear. "James, Kristiann, good luck. Destiny is on your side…" Sheik told them almost sadly as he threw down a bomb like object and disappeared in the flash it created.

"Sheik is one mysterious dude." James stated. "Yea, but he almost sounded sad this time. I hope everything's okay." Kristiann said worried. "I'm sure everything's fine. But we should go now and get some sleep for tomorrow. We'll have a full day tomorrow dealing with the next shard." James said as they began to walk to the car. "There's still another thing that worries me. Remember Alister is still out there. And he's a pretty strong duelist. I wonder if that's what Sheik's worried about." Kristiann thought out loud. "I don't think so, I can take Alister no problem! Personally, I'm more concerned about that third dragon. Sheik obviously knows something, but won't tell us what. But whatever it is, I think that's what worries him." James countered. "Yea, that is worrying. But you're right, we'll deal with that tomorrow. For now, let's go home and get some sleep." Kristiann agreed as the two got into the car and drove off. "James… Kristiann… do well. Save this world." Sheik whispered to himself from the tree he was standing in. He watched them drive away while a single teardrop fell on the deck he held in his hand.

The next morning, James and Kristiann left early to go to St. Michael's Catholic Church. They pulled up to the parking lot in front of the parish center and got out. "Wow, so many memories here, it's no wonder a shard is hidden here." James stated as the two walked inside. They went down a main hallway and turned into the large main room. Incidentally, the room was completely empty; no chairs, no tables, no people. "Well this is really strange. What are they setting up for where they have no tables or chairs? And where is everyone?" Kristiann asked out loud. "I can answer both of those questions with one simple answer. Everything's set for me!" A boy's voice called out from the far side of the room. Before James or Kristiann could say anything, a boy stepped out from a doorway on the other side of the room. He wore a white suit with a purple-blue line going up the center and an intricate design at the collar. His eyes and hair were the same shade of blue. On his left arm, he wore a modified chaos duel disk; this one had more of a modern look to it. He was short and rather young, probably about twelve. But despite his height and age, he had one startling feature: the nightmare shard he wore around his neck.

"Who are you? Are you one of the guardians of the nightmare shards?" James asked the boy as the boy walked closer to them. "Of course, what gave that away? The shard around my neck?" The boy replied sarcastically as he took a bite out of the apple he was holding. "The name's Noah, but you can just call me master if you wish." The boy told them. "I'm not calling anyone master. In fact, I'm going to take you down right here and now!" James told Noah with determination. "You need to calm down. Are you always so hasty? No wonder Master Yami wants to get rid of you, you are pretty obnoxious. But no matter I guess, I'll have the honor of dispatching you." Noah answered as he took another bite from his apple. "James, be careful, you can't just rush into these things." Kristiann told him. "I know, but it's time I really prove myself. After all, I haven't really won a good duel in a while." James said. "Perhaps you should listen to her, you might live a bit longer. Normally I don't rush into things either, but for you I guess I'll make an exception." Noah said as he tossed his half-eaten apple aside and activate his duel disk. "Well I'm flattered. Alright, then you ready?" James asked as he activated his duel disk. They both set their life points to 4000 and drew their opening hand. "Let's duel!"


	29. Chapter 29: Enter the Spirit World

Chapter 29- Enter the Spirit World

"I think I'll start off this duel." James began as he drew a card. "That's fine with me; I can defeat you either way." Noah replied. "Well you won't be so confident when I summon my Queen's Knight in attack mode." James said as his playing card-based female warrior emerged with 1500 attack and 1600 defense. "This card means something to me because it reminds me of how I should be a knight for my queen." James stated as he looked lovingly at his lady. "Now which queen would that be, James? That pathetic little girl standing over there? Or is it your so called "queen of darkness?" Noah asked mockingly. "What are you talking about?" James asked, slightly confused.

"Come now, their souls may be gone, but surely you can't have forgotten them. You know exactly what I'm talking about! I'm talking about the family you continually disgrace by your anger and arrogance." Noah snapped as James looked sadly at the ground. "Noah, everyone has issues with their families." Kristiann commented. "That may be true; after all, just look at me. But no one should disgrace one's family like you have. At least I wanted to have some family, but you don't even want to be affiliated with your family at all. And that, I must say, is pretty cold." Noah mocked. "I may have said that in the past, but things are different now. I think I'm proving that pretty well by getting rid of the nightmare shards. Jeez, how many times do I have to give this speech?" James said. "Talk is cheap, James. You need to prove yourself worthy. Prove it to me here and now!" Noah challenged.

"I will, Noah. I'll prove it to you and the whole world. I lay one card facedown and end my turn." James concluded. "That's very noble of you, but unfortunately for you I am standing in the way. And there's no way you can stand up to my intellect and skills." Noah said confidently as he drew a card. "I summon my Asura Priest to the field in attack mode!" Noah called out as his spirit monster emerged with 1700 attack and 1200 defense. "I'm not holding anything back in this duel. Asura Priest, attack Queen's Knight!" Noah commanded as his monster threw multiple daggers at James' knight. "Neither am I, Noah. I activate the trap card Magic Cylinder. This takes your attack and fires it right back at your life points." James explained as the daggers entered one of the jars and a second jar shot the daggers right at Noah, dropping Noah's life points to 2300. "It's good to see we're on an even plane now. To end my turn, I'll lay two cards facedown and activate my Spring of Rebirth magic card. Now whenever a monster returns to a player's hand, I gain 500 life points." Noah explained. "And speaking of which, now that I do end my turn, my Asura Priest returns to my hand, which means I take back 500 life points." Noah explained as his monster returned to his hand and his life points rose to 2800.

"But why did Noah's monster return to his hand?" Kristiann asked out loud. "Because I use a special type of monster called Spirit monsters. And at the end of the turn they're summoned, they have to return to my hand. But go on, James. Try and match the spirit world." Noah taunted. "I will, and I'll still come out on top." James replied confidently as he drew a card. "I summon another appropriate monster considering the area, my King's Knight in attack mode!" James called as his knightly knight emerged with 1600 attack and 1400 defense. "And if I summon King's Knight while Queen's Knight is on the field, I can automatically summon one of my favorite monsters from my deck: Go Jack's Knight!" James added as his third knight emerged with 1900 attack and 1000 defense. "And now my perfect trio is complete. I have my King's Knight to represent my loyalty to the ultimate King, my Queen's Knight to represent my loyalty to my perfect queen, and my Jack's Knight to represent myself, a true knight for my Lord and lady." James spoke dramatically. "And with the strength of all three of my warriors, Knights attack Noah's life points directly!" James exclaimed as all three of his knights charged towards Noah.

"Did you really think you could win that easily? I activate my trap card to represent the darkness that ruptures the force of all three of your knights, both figuratively and literally. I activate Chaos Barrier Field!" Noah countered as his trap activated. "With this card, instead of me being the target, your monster with the highest attack instead attacks your monster with the lowest attack. In order words, your Jack's Knight now attacks your own Queen's Knight. How's that for a betrayal!" Noah explained as James' two knights clashed swords. From the assault, Queen's Knight was destroyed and James' life points brought down to 3600. "And then, after all that, your battle phase is now over." Noah finalized as James' remaining Knights returned to James' side of the field. "Fine, I lay one card facedown and end my turn." James concluded. "Of course you do, there's nothing you have that can surpass me." Noah remarked as he drew a card.

"However I do have a card that makes sure you don't have anything. I activate my Giant Flood spell card. I believe it's time for a change of scenery and this card will make a nice little transition." Noah began as a tidal wave began to well up behind him. Then the wave came crashing down over the three people in the room and consumed them in its waters. James and Kristiann winced for a moment, but when they opened their eyes, they found themselves inside the actual church building of St. Michael's. James was standing in the middle of the main aisle, almost to the altar, while Kristiann was now sitting in one of the pews. Noah himself was sitting on the main chair up on the altar.

When the floods completely receded, Noah rose up from the chair and walked to the front of the altar to be even with, but on a higher plane than James. "So glad you survived my flood. And to think, neither of us even had to build an ark. At least, not yet…" Noah said sarcastically. Incidentally, the field was also devoid of monsters. "Thanks to my Giant Flood card, all of our monsters in our field and hand are sent directly to the graveyard." Noah explained as he tossed out all the monsters from his hand. James did likewise, although his two Knights were already destroyed. "But you may think the fun is all over for you since I too have no monsters. But guess again! I activate my facedown card Groundbreaking! This card allows me to add one spirit monster from my graveyard back to my hand. So I'll return to my hand the Yata-Garasu I just discarded." Noah explained as his monster returned to his hand.

"And now I think would be an excellent time to summon it back to the field. So go, Yata-Garasu in attack mode!" Noah called as his fiendish spirit bird emerged with 200 attack and 100 defense. "But your Yata-Garasu has only 200 attack points. Why would you choose to bring him back?" James asked. "Because he has a very nice special ability. Go Yata-Garasu, attack James' life points directly!" Noah commanded as his bird pecked James, reducing his life points to 3400. "Now that my bird has attacked your life points directly, you have to skip your draw phase next turn. So there's no way you can draw another monster to save you. And on that note I end my turn, returning Yata-Garasu to my hand and increasing my life points by 500." Noah concluded as his life points rose to 3300. "Ahaha, it's so much fun being on such a higher plane than you James! But believe me, the fun is only just beginning!" Noah laughed evilly.


	30. Chapter 30: A Higher Plane

Chapter 30- A Higher Plane

"You might think you're on a higher plane Noah, but you're wrong." James said to him as he reached to his deck to draw a card. "How quickly we forget, James! You can't draw a card this turn due to the effects of my Yata-Garasu." Noah reminded him. "But since all of James' monsters were destroyed by Noah's Giant Flood card, he doesn't have any monsters in his hand." Kristiann thought to herself. "I have no choice but to lay two cards facedown and end my turn." James concluded sadly. "You have no choice but to lose, James." Noah mocked as he drew a card. "I too lay one card facedown and then I activate my Mystical Space Typhoon! And I'll use it to destroy one of your facedown cards. The one on the right!" Noah activated as his typhoon destroyed James' facedown Sakuretsu Armor trap. "How cute, you could have used that card to destroy one of my monsters, but I destroyed it. Oh well." Noah shrugged.

"And without that trap to protect you, I summon back to the field my Yata-Garasu in attack mode!" Noah called as his bird returned with 200 attack and 100 defense. The spirit bird flew up to the rafters and perched on a light fixture and looked down upon the field. "Now, Yata-Garasu, attack James' life points again!" Noah commanded as his tiny bird took flight and made a nose-dive for James. "Do you think I'm scared of that spirit bird? Just who do you think I am, Abigail Williams? Well, I you may have destroyed one of my trap cards, but I have another one that will work just as well. I activate my other trap card Call of the Haunted. This allows me to summon a monster directly from my graveyard. And I choose to bring back my Jack's Knight." James countered as his knight re-emerged with 1900 attack and 1000 defense.

"Alright! James might not have been able to summon a monster from his hand, but he could still summon one from his graveyard!" Kristiann exclaimed happily. "No, Yata-Garasu, pull up!" Noah commanded as his spirit bird stopped its attack. "You may have a brought back a decent monster. But it doesn't matter. I end my turn, and because I do, I can do two things. The first is that my Yata-Garasu returns to my hand and I gain 500 life points due to my Spring of Rebirth." Noah explained as his monster did indeed return to his hand and his life points rose to 3800. "But then I can also activate my Peace Dividend magic card. I can activate this card only during the end phase of a turn when no attacks were completed. Now I can take any magic card from my deck and place it at the top of my deck." Noah explained with a wicked smile as he looked through his deck and selected his card.

"I also have to show you the card. But I'm sure you can guess which magic card I've chosen. Any guesses, James, Kristiann?" Noah asked sarcastically. "Oh no, not that card!" Kristiann exclaimed, much to Noah's amusement. "I don't know why you always looked so shocked when someone plays this card. You think you fools would learn to expect it after a while. But I might as well show you." Noah sighed as he showed them the card: The Seal of Orichalcos. "Aha, as soon as I draw this card next turn, your fate will be sealed!" Noah laughed with the over-used pun. "But that's next turn, for now, it's mine." James replied as he drew a card. "Ha, now that I've drawn a monster, I think I'll summon him to the field. Go Armageddon Knight in attack mode!" James exclaimed with a happy smile as his dark warrior emerged with 1400 attack and 1200 defense.

"And now with two monsters on my side of the field, Armageddon Knight, attack Noah's life points directly!" James commanded as his dark warrior unsheathed its sword and prepared to attack. "Haven't you realized by now that he who controls the spirit world controls this duel? And the spirit world is directly linked to the natural world. And that's why I activate my trap card Earthshaker. Since you have two different monsters on your field of two different attributes, you have a decision to make. One of your monsters has to go. But which one: Light or Dark?" Noah countered with a sarcastic smile. "Now and forever I choose to destroy the dark." James replied adamantly. "Then your Armageddon Knight will pay the price." Noah explained as the ground cracked and swallowed up James' knight before it returned to normal. "That's ok, I still have my Jack's Knight. Go attack Noah directly!" James tried again as his knight charged forward. "Aha, once again you fall right into my trap!" Noah laughed. "But you don't have any facedown magic or trap cards on the field. How can you counter my attack?" James asked confused. "I may not have any cards on the field that can help me, but I do have a monster in my graveyard that can help. By removing my Necro Absorber from play, I can not only block your attack, but I can increase my life points by the same amount as the attack points as your monster." Noah countered as Jack's Knight's attack hit, but instead of lowering Noah's life points, it boosted it to 5700.

"Not only did Noah block James' attacks, but he also dramatically raised his life points!" Kristiann exclaimed. "I have nothing left to do but lay one card facedown and end my turn." James concluded. "Aha, then prepare yourself, for you know exactly what card I'm about to draw!" Noah laughed as he drew the fateful card. "And that this perfect card rests in my hand, I think it's high time that I play it…" Noah trailed off. "Not quite, Noah! Because now I've figured out a way to stop your Seal of Orichalcos!" James shouted dramatically. "What?! But that's impossible, there's no way to destroy the Seal of Orichalcos!" Noah shouted back. "That may be true, but I can prevent you from playing it. I activate my trap card Lightforce Sword! With this card, I can take one card from your hand and remove it from play for a total of four turns." James explained as a light-energized sword burst forth from the card, stabbed right through the card Noah just drew, sealing it away a few paces behind him. "Very clever, James, but your card won't last forever. In four turns, I'll have my card back and then you won't be smiling." Noah sneered.

"But for now, I guess I'll just have to make other plans." Noah continued as he looked over his remaining hand. "I summon the envoy of the spirit world, my Messenger Dusknoir in attack mode!" Noah called as his phantom appeared with 2000 attack and 700 defense. "Now, Dusknoir, destroy Jack's Knight with spirit dark orb!" Noah commanded as his ghost unleashed a massive orb of shadow energy that destroys James' Knight and trap card, dropping his life points to 3200. "And not only is your Knight destroyed, but because of Dusknoir's ability, he's been carried off to the spirit world for the rest of the duel. In other words, I've removed him from play." Noah explained. "But alas, Dusknoir must return to my hand for now because I end my turn. However this does raise my life points by another 500." Noah shrugged as his spirit monster returned to his hand, increasing his life points to 6300.

"Alright, then now you do have absolutely nothing to defend you, so now is my chance to strike." James stated as he drew a card. "And luckily I drew just the monster to use on you now. I summon an old friend of mine Little-Winguard in attack mode!" James called as his petite warrior emerged with 1400 attack and 1800 defense. "Now, Little-Winguard, attack Noah's life points directly!" James commanded as his warrior slashed Noah, reducing his life points to 4900. "Aha, that was funny, I'm so strong I didn't even feel that." Noah laughed as James' attack. "He's right, he has so many life points and they keep increasing. That's probably part of his strategy." Kristiann thought to herself. "You may find that funny, but now that I end my turn, I can switch Little-Winguard to defense mode to preserve my life points." James explained as his warrior switched to defense mode. "That won't save you from anything." Noah remarked as he drew a card.

"First, I activate Pot of Greed to give myself a little extra firepower, not that I really need it." Noah stated as he drew his card. "And now, James, it's time to enter the final phase of this duel and end it once and for all. I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands in attack mode!" Noah called as his freaky fairy emerged with 1400 attack and 1000 defense. "Well that's not too bad, James' monster has enough defense points to withstand it." Kristiann stated. "Well yes, this monster may be too weak, but that shouldn't be your biggest concern. What you should be worried about is Maju's special ability, which allows me to search my deck for a ritual monster or spell card and add it to my hand." Noah explained as he searched and then shuffled his deck. "And now, it's time to summon my strongest monster, the master of the spirit world! I activate the ritual spell card Shinato's Ark!" Noah shouted as a massive ark appeared over the field. "And now, by offering up Manju on my field with Dusknoir in my hand, I can call forth Shinato, King of a Higher Plane!" Noah exclaimed as his two monsters were absorbed by the ark.

Then in a great flash of light, the ark disappeared, heralding the entrance of Noah's ultimate fairy with 3300 attack and 3000 defense. "With Shinato on the field, soon you'll be meeting the spirit world!" Noah laughed as James and Kristiann stared down the magnificent winged monster.


	31. Chapter 31: The Claw of Hermos

Chapter 31- The Claw of Hermos

"Now Shinato, unleash your power on these weaklings and destroy Little-Winguard!" Noah commanded as his fairy unleashed a ring of energy at James' warrior, totally obliterating it and increasing Noah's life points to 6300. "Wait, why did your life points go up?" James asked. "Because whenever Shinato destroys one of your monsters, I gain life points equal to the attack points of the destroyed monster." Noah explained. "Oh no, that's not good. Not only does Noah have a really strong monster on the field, but he can also use to it boost his life points even further!" Kristiann exclaimed. "Exactly, soon my life points will be impossible to bring down. But for now I lay two cards facedown and end my turn." Noah concluded.

"Then it's up to me to pull off something good this turn." James stated as he drew a card. "All right! I drew just what I needed!" James exclaimed with a huge smile. "First I have to remove from play one light monster and one dark monster from my graveyard; namely King's Knight and Armageddon Knight." James began as his two monsters appeared as phantoms behind him for a moment before disappearing. "And then I can summon my most favorite monster Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the Beginning!" James exclaimed as his ultimate warrior emerged with a burst of light, 3000 attack points, and 2500 defense points. "Awesome, with James' best monster out, Noah doesn't stand a chance!" Kristiann squealed happily. "Exactly, and not only is my Black Luster Soldier super awesome, but he has a super awesome ability: two to be exact. And I'll activate one of them now, which allows me to automatically remove from play one monster on the field. And I choose to remove from play Shinato!" James explained as his knight raised its sword and, with a flash of energy, Shinato disappeared from the field. "Granted I may not be able to attack this turn, but without Shinato, you shouldn't be able to defeat my Soldier. But just in case, I lay this one card facedown and end my turn." James concluded confidently.

"You think you can stop me that easily? How fun it must be to be so ignorant." Noah said mockingly as he drew a card. "Now, let us not forget that two turns have passed on your Lightforce Sword, meaning there are only two turn left until the Seal of Orichalcos returns to my hand. However, I don't think that should be an issue. Because now I can activate my Next World spell card. Since you have a level 8 monster on the field, I can summon a spirit monster with at most that many stars. So I choose my powerful Yamata Dragon in attack mode!" Noah explained as his spirit hydra emerged with 2600 attack and 3100 defense. "But why would you summon that monster, it's not strong enough to match my Black Luster Soldier?" James asked. "He might not be, but I can bring back a monster that is. I activate my trap card Miraculous Descent! This allows me to special summon one of my fairy monsters that was removed from play. And since I only have one, I call back Shinato, King of a Higher Plane!" Noah exclaimed as Shinato returned from the heavens of light with 3300 attack and 3000 defense. "Oh no, this isn't looking good, now Noah's got two strong monsters on the field." Kristiann lamented.

"That's right, and now your about to feel the full force of both of them. Shinato, destroy Black Luster Soldier!" Noah commanded as his deity launched another ring of energy at James' favorite warrior, destroying it and dropping James' life points to 2900. "And don't forget because Shinato destroyed your monster, I gain life points equal to its attack points." Noah added as his life points rose to 9300. "Noah's life points are over 9000!" Kristiann exclaimed. "Would you expect anything less? Now, Yamata Dragon, attack James directly!" Noah then commanded as his hydra launched multiple streams of fire at James, who yelled in pain as his life points dropped to 300. "Because my Yamata Dragon dealt damage to you this turn, I can draw until I have five cards in my card. Now I lay one last card facedown and that'll do for now. But now Yamata Dragon must also return to my hand, giving yet more life points." Noah concluded as his life points rose to 9800. "Wait, before you end your turn, I activate my trap card Immortal Warrior. Since one of my warrior monsters was destroyed this turn, I can call him back to the field." A weak James threw in as his Soldier re-emerged. "That won't help you, just make your move." Noah sneered. "I will." James replied as he regained his strength and drew his card. "I've got one chance left. I lay this card facedown and then I activate the special effect of my Black Luster Soldier and remove Shinato from play once again." James said as his knight raised its sword. "Do you really think I'd fall for the same trick twice? I can counter that little ability perfectly with this trap Eternal Spirit!" Noah countered as his trap activated. "With this card, whenever Shinato would be removed from the field I must activate it and give up 500 life points to keep him in play." Noah explained as Shinato glowed with an aura that blocked James' effect as Noah's life points dropped down to 9300. "In that case, I have no choice but to end my turn." James concluded

"Aha, just as I expected you have nothing left!" Noah laughed. "James isn't looking too good, luckily since Noah still has one turn left on Lightforce Sword, he can't activate the Seal of Orichalcos." Kristiann stated. "That's where you're wrong!" Noah exclaimed much to the shock of his enemies. "I activate my facedown card Pyro Clock of Destiny! This turns time forward by one turn, ending the restraint of your Lightforce Sword and releasing my ultimate card." Noah explained as James' trap was destroyed. "And now with this card back into my hand, I can activate its dark magic. I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!" Noah exclaimed as the green circle encompassed the field in its dark energy. The symbol of the Seal was immediately burned into Noah's forehead along with Shinato's, which raised his stats to 3800 attack and 3500 defense. "And with the ultimate powers of both the dark world and the spirit world at my disposal, I've become truly invincible! Shinato destroy Black Luster Soldier once and for all and put and end to this duel!" Noah commanded insanely as his now dark angel threw a ring of dark energy at James' warrior. "I have one last defense left. I activate Negate Attack, which, well, negates your attack and ends your battle phase." James countered desperately.

"That was a last desperate move on your part. But it doesn't matter because now you don't have anything to sustain you for the next turn. I end my turn and soon, this duel!" Noah laughed as he ended his turn. "He's right, I have nothing left and only one draw. My time might be up. But I can't give up hope, I still have one draw left." James thought to himself as he reached to draw his card. Suddenly, a great light consumed James' world and he felt as if he was being sucked into a white hole. When the light cleared, James was floating in a large, round room in a great castle. "Where am I?" James asked out loud. "James, the time has come at last. You must awaken your Legendary Dragon." A soft female voice told him. James looked down and saw a single large crystal dragon statue. Sticking out of the dragon's claw was a sword. Knowing immediately what he had to do, James floated down to the sword and floated there for a moment staring at it. "Just pull the sword out and call out the name of the Legendary Dragon Hermos." The female voice told him. James reached for the sword and pulled on it. "Hermos!" James shouted loudly as the sword was released. With a mighty roar from a great dragon, and another vortex of light, James found himself standing back in the church staring down an Orichalcos-controlled Shinato. James looked at his duel disk and saw that the top card was glowing.

"Well are you going to keep us waiting or are you going to accept your fate and give up?" Noah asked mockingly. James drew the card and gave a great smile. "I'm not giving up just yet Noah, I still have one trick left up my sleeve. First I activate the spell card Swing of Memories to bring back my Queen's Knight from the graveyard." James said with a huge grin as his knight emerged with 1500 attack and 1600 defense. "What is that going to do for you? She's worthless!" Noah shouted, though he knew something was up. "She may be on her own, but not after I activate this card." James continued with a smile. "Can it be?!" Kristiann squealed. "I activate the Claw of Hermos!" James exclaimed as his mighty red dragon flew up from behind him and gave a mighty roar. "No, not a legendary dragon!" Noah exclaimed in fear. "Yes it is, and now I fuse Hermos with my Queen's Knight in order to create Goddess Bow and I equip it to my Black Luster Soldier!" James explained as his two monsters fused together and created the divine weapon. "With this powerful equip card, my Soldier's attack points are doubled!" James explained as his warrior's attack points rose to 6000.

"And now, Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the Beginning, destroy Shinato with goddess arrow strike!" James commanded as his knight shot the sacred light arrow at Noah's monster. "Nice try, James. I admit you had me worried there for a moment. But you forget that as long as my Eternal Spirit is in play, I just give up 500 life points and Shinato returns." Noah said with slight relief as his life points dropped to 8800. "That's exactly what I was hoping for. You see, if your monster is brought back by a card effect, my Goddess Bow lets me attack as many times as I can this turn as long as the monster is brought back." James explained as another arrow stuck into Shinato, Noah's life points dropped again by 500, and the cycle continued. Noah watched dumbfounded as Shinato was struck multiple times with arrows until finally his life points became too low to revive him. "No, Shinato!" Noah shouted as the infinitely pierced angel finally fell. "And now I can use Black Luster Soldier's ability to attack once again. Only this time you're his target. It's all over Noah!" James exclaimed dramatically as his Soldier shot one final arrow that flew straight towards Noah. Noah watched it approach in fear and amazement as it shattered the Nightmare Shard around his neck and then pierced him right in the chest, reducing his life points down to a final zero.


	32. Chapter 32: Alister's Revenge

Chapter 32- Alister's Revenge

"So that's the way it ends I guess." Noah conceded as the Seal of Orichalcos began to close in on him. "I didn't even get to really get to know the power too well either. Oh well, take this James, be a messenger of the spirit world, much like I am." Noah stated sadly as he tossed his Messenger Dusknoir card to James, who caught it and pocketed it. "Well we lost it all, nothing lasts forever. I'm just sorry I can't be perfect…" Noah trailed off as the Seal completely closed in on him and, with a beam of green light, took his soul. He gave one last sad smile as his body dissipated in the same sparks that his brethren had.

"Well there's another one down." James stated as Kristiann ran over to him. "Congratulations, you got your legendary dragon!" Kristiann exclaimed as she embraced him. "Yep, the Claw of Hermos!" James smiled as he showed her the card. "I admit, you had me a little worried for a bit, but I knew you'd pull through." Kristiann told him. "Yea, well I guess we should be going now then." Kristiann then said as she began to walk towards the exit of the church. "Hold on a minute… I just want to see something real quick." James interrupted as he walked towards the front of the altar where Noah was standing. "Come on up here." James motioned as he turned to face the pews in the church. "But I thought you said I wasn't allowed up there." Kristiann replied. "There's no one else in here, trust me." James offered again. "Alright if you saw so…" Kristiann finally conceded as she walked up to meet James. When he got up to where he was, she too turned and faced all the pews, side by side with James.

"Alright, what now?" Kristiann asked, confused as to what James was getting at. "Just look out at the pews and notice how they're all empty. Well, just think, some day, all of those pews will be filled and we'll still be standing here looking out at all of them. Do you know what I mean, baby?" James asked lovingly. "I know what you mean. I love you." Kristiann whispered as she embraced him. Then they looked at each other and slowly leaned in to kiss. When the touching moment had passed, they broke apart and looked at each other once again. "I love you too. Alright I guess we'd had better get going now." James admitted. "Yea, I guess so." Kristiann agreed as they exited the church.

As they were walking down to Kristiann's car, suddenly Kristiann's phone went off. Kristiann fumbled into her pocket and pulled out her phone to answer the call. "Hello?" She said into the device. "Krisi? Please, Krisi, come help! It's terrible!" The voice on the other end pleaded. "Katelyn?! What's going on is everything ok?" Kristiann asked startled to her younger sister on the other end of the phone. "No, there's this man here and he's… ah!" Kristiann's sister began but was silenced. "Katelyn? Katelyn!" Kristiann called desperately to the phone. "Ah, Kristiann, I was hoping to speak to your sorry little boyfriend, but I guess you'll do." The familiar male voice stated. "I'm right here, Alister what's going on?" James asked angrily. "I'm just making good on my promise. I said I'd be back and now it's time to face me in battle once again." Alister told them. "Alister, what are you doing to my sister?!" Kristiann asked angrily. "You mean what have I done. And it's not just her, but your parents have paid the ultimate price as well. But why don't you two come on over here and see for yourself. I'll be waiting." Alister challenged as he hung up the phone.

"Alister, that snake! He'll pay for whatever he did to my family!" Kristiann stated as the two ran for the car. "I guess there's only one way to find out, let's go!" James agreed as they got into the car and drove off for Kristiann's house. As they turned on to the road where Kristiann's house was, they saw the villain waiting for them in the street. Kristiann thought about running him over, but instead parked the car before they reached him. "So glad you could join me." Alister stated smartly as James and Kristiann got out of the vehicle. "What have you done now, Alister?" Kristiann demanded. "Just have a look for yourself." Alister motioned to the top of the stairs of the house. "Why don't you just tell us?" James asked. "Fine then, I will. If you were to go up those stairs and into their rooms, you would find them unconscious in their beds. But trust me, there's not sleeping. They simply don't have souls anymore. They belong to Master Yami now." Alister told them. "You're sick, Alister!" Kristiann shouted at him. "I do my best. And speaking of doing one's best, James it's time for our rematch. I've been waiting and traveling the area, building my strength. And now I'm finally ready to destroy you once and for all." Alister challenged.

"If it'll defend Kristiann's honor and avenge her family, then of course I'll take you down. Plus we still need to destroy the Nightmare Shard you have." James agreed to the challenge. "I'm glad we're on the same page then. I'll enjoy finishing what I started during our last duel." Alister stated as he activated his chaos duel disk. "There's no way you can beat me. I'll defeat you and destroy your Nightmare Shard!" James replied confidently as he activated his duel disk. They both set their life points to 4000 and drew their opening hand before saying in unison the ever-famous phrase. "Let's duel!"


	33. Chapter 33: Taking it to the Skies

Chapter 33- Taking it to the Skies

"I'll start off this duel." James stated as he drew a card. "And to begin, I'll summon my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian in attack mode!" James called as his Elvin warrior emerged with 1400 attack and 1200 defense. "And just in case, I'll place this card facedown. It's your move, Alister." James concluded. "You think that's a good start? Just wait till you see mine!" Alister said confidently as he drew a card. "I can give a much stronger start with my Kinetic Soldier in attack mode!" Alister began as his mechanical soldier emerged with 1350 attack and 1800 defense. "Now, Kinetic Soldier, attack James' guardian!" Alister commanded. "Wait, your soldier has less attack points though. Why would you attack with him?" James asked confused. "Because whenever my Kinetic Soldier does battle with a warrior type monster, it gains 2000 attack points during the damage step only. Fire!" Alister explained as his soldier unleashed a barrage of missiles that connected with James' warrior, reducing his life points to 2050.

"How's that for a strong start?" Alister asked mockingly. "Not bad, but my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian can't be destroyed by monsters with more than 1900 attack points." James revealed. "That doesn't matter to me. I lay one card facedown and end my turn." Alister concluded. "Alright, then I'm up again." James said as he drew a card. "And since my Celtic Guardian was not destroyed last turn, I can sacrifice him now in order to summon my Airknight Parshath in attack mode!" James called as his centaur warrior emerged with 1900 attack and 1400 defense. "But that's not all; I can also activate this magic card: The Emperor's Absolute, the card that Kaiba won from defeated a guardian like you. With this card, I can summon another level 5 monster from my deck and I choose to summon The Legendary Fisherman in attack mode!" James added as his aquatic warrior, a gift from his father, emerged with 1850 attack and 1600 defense.

"And with two monsters on my side of the field, I can easily overpower you. Airknight Parshath, attack Kinetic Soldier!" James commanded as his monster galloped forward and slashed Alister's monster apart, reducing his life points to 3450 and allowing James to draw a card because of Airknight's effect. "You think you're clever, but I have a trap that you might remember. It's called Call for Reinforcements and it lets me summon another soldier monster when one of my soldiers is destroyed. So I'll forth my Cyber Soldier of Darkworld in defense mode to protect my life points." Alister countered as his dark solider emerged with 1400 attack and 1200 defense. "It may protect your life points, but my Fisherman can still destroy it. Go!" James commanded as his warrior threw a deadly harpoon that struck and destroyed Alister's monster. "That'll end my turn, Alister." James concluded. "Whatever, it doesn't matter." Alister remarked as he drew a card. "And it especially doesn't matter now that I drew the most powerful card ever created." Alister added with an evil smile as he stared at the card he held.

"Witness again the awesome power of the Seal of Orichalcos!" Alister shouted as he slid the card into his duel disk. "Not, so fast Alister, I activate my facedown card Phoenix Field!" James countered with a happy exclamation. "What does that card do?!" Alister asked shocked. "Phoenix Field can be activated whenever you play a field spell card. At the same time that your field spell is activated, I can also activate a field spell from my deck and two field spell cards can be in play at the same time." James explained as he shuffled through his deck. "And at the same time as your Seal of Orichalcos, I'll activate The Sanctuary in the Sky field spell card!" James exclaimed as an orb of green light radiated from the center of the field. When the light had faded, James, Alister, and Kristiann were all standing in the magnificent realm of the clouds conjured by James' field spell. Behind James was the temple-like structure known as the Sanctuary and all around them were nothing but clouds and blue skies. Even the ground below them was clouds, but each person was standing on a stone platform. "Whoa, this is incredible!" Kristiann stated awestruck. "I think you all are forgetting one thing: my field spell still activates." Alister reminded them as the green circle surrounded Alister and his opponent. The symbol of the Seal of Orichalcos was also branded onto Alister's forehead.

"This is all very cute, but let's not forget that nothing can match the Seal of Orichalcos!" Alister said with darkness in his eyes. "You don't get it Alister, true power comes from love and light and that's exactly what this card symbolizes: my sanctuary in being with Kristiann." James replied as he raised his arms as if to show off the field. "Again, very cute, but can you back that up? I can back up my power with this monster: Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4!" Alister called as his bird-like dragon emerged with 1600 attack and 1000 defense. But then the Seal of Orichalcos infected his monster, boosting its stats to 2100 attack and 1500 defense. "Now, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4, destroy James' Legendary Fisherman!" Alister commanded as his dragon shot a burst of fire at James' warrior, destroying it and bringing James' life points down to 1800. "That may be enough punishment for this turn, but I can assure you the worst is yet to come. Before I end my turn, since my dragon destroyed one of your monsters, I can sacrifice him in order to summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 from my deck." Alister explained as an eruption of dark flames heralded the entrance of his new, stronger bird-dragon with a total of 2800 attack and 2100 defense with the Seal of Orichalcos.

"I lay one card facedown and end my turn." Alister concluded. "Now that we're in my realm, I can't lose." James stated as he drew a card. "I beg to differ, James. You can and will lose, and why? Because I'll make you burn, no matter where we are!" Alister told him menacingly with great anger.


	34. Chapter 34: Synchronization

Chapter 34- Synchronization

"As you can see I've been getting stronger all the time. That's why now I've included in my deck the various levels of the ultimate dark flame monster, Horus!" Alister ranted. "You may have a strong monster, but I know I can defeat it. And to do so, it's time I bust out a new trick of mine. I summon my Tune Warrior in attack mode!" James called as his motorized warrior emerged with 1600 attack and 200 defense. "What is that puny monster going to do for you?" Alister laughed. "Alone, nothing. But now that he's on the field, I'm allowed to do the same thing that Kristiann allows me to do: synchronize. So I'll sacrifice my Airknight Parshath and Tune Warrior in order to synchro summon Avenging Knight Parshath in attack mode!" James explained as his two monsters fused together to create the stronger fairy guardian with 2600 attack and 2100 defense. "A synchro summon, I don't believe it! Since when could that happen? But it doesn't matter, your monster is still weaker than mine!" Alister shouted. "Don't worry, Alister, it was after your time. As for my monster, he may be weaker now, but he still has his special ability. Once per turn, I can switch the battle position to one of your monsters. In other words, I can switch your Black Flame Dragon into defense mode." James explained as his knight raised its sword and switched Alister's monster to defense mode.

"And now he's right for the picking. Avenging Knight Parshath, attack Horus with sky guardian slash!" James commanded as his shining knight galloped forward and slashed apart Alister's monster, bringing his life points down to 2950. "Oh and I almost forgot to mention that even though your monster was in defense mode, you still lose life points. I lay one card facedown and end my turn." James concluded. "You think you're so smart don't you?! Well you're still nothing compared to me!" Alister shouted as he drew a card. "I activate the magic card Dark Flames Revival, which allows me to bring back one fire monster from my graveyard and summon it in attack mode. Since my level six dragon is immune to all spell cards besides my ultimate Seal of Orichalcos, I'll bring back Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 4 instead." Alister explained as his lesser dragon emerged with a total of 2100 attack and 1500 defense. "But since my level four dragon is still too weak, I guess I'll just have to level him up then. And this Level Up! magic card can do just that!" Alister stated as his dragon magically transformed into the stronger Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 6, complete with the symbol of the Seal of Orichalcos on its forehead and 2800 attack and 2100 defense. "I think I'll also boost my attack force by summoning my old friend Gorlag in attack mode!" Alister added as his familiar fiend emerged with a total of 1500 attack and defense.

"Now, Horus destroy James' disgustingly light monster!" Alister commanded with wrath as his dragon unleashed a stream of fire at James' Knight. "I don't think so, Alister, I activate my trap card Sakuretsu Armor. Better luck next time." James countered. "I think it's you who needs better luck, because I have a trap as well. I activate one of my favorite trap card Legendary Bird's Legacy! This negates the effects of all trap and monster effects for the next two turns. Nice try though, but my power wins out once again." Alister countered as his trap negated and destroyed James' trap. With that out of the way, Horus' attack connected with James' Knight, destroying it in a blaze. "Since the Sanctuary in the Sky is in play, I don't lose life points when my fairy monster is destroyed." James explained. "That may be, but it can't save you from Gorlag's attack!" Alister shouted as his fiend unleashed its flame whip on James, dropping his life points to 300. "That'll end my turn." Alister concluded as James caught his breath.

"Not bad, but I'm not down yet." James stated confidently as he regained his composure and drew a card. "Your trap card doesn't affect my magic cards, and I have just the one to use one you. This card completely embodies my devotion to Kristiann and symbolizes the bond we share. In fact, we won it together through many trials and duels." James stated nobly. "Would you quit your ranting and actually play it!" Alister demanded. "As you wish, Alister. I activate Synchronized Hearts. This powerful magic card takes our life points and adds them together, and then we each get an equal number of life points averaged from that total." James explained as magical heart energy made both of their life points 1625. "Alright, James played our favorite card!" Kristiann exclaimed happily. "That's great for you, but life points won't save you. You still can't summon a monster that's capable of defeating my Black Flame Dragon." Alister remarked. "That may be true, but I can put up a formidable defense. I'll set this monster facedown in defense mode and end my turn." James concluded after his unknown monster appeared.

"I don't care what monster you have, it doesn't stand a chance against me." Alister remarked as he drew a card. "And now I'll sacrifice Gorlag to bring back another old friend of mine: Dark Flames Fiend in attack mode!" Alister called as his fiend emerged with 500 attack and 1800 defense, boosted to 1000 attack and 2300 defense due to the Seal of Orichalcos. "And then I'll activate a magic card of my own: Dark Flames Wrath to be specific. It lets me automatically destroy any one of your monsters on the field. And I choose to destroy your facedown monster!" Alister called, but James replied with a smile. "I reveal my facedown monster to be Mid Shield Gardna, and he's got an effect. Whenever he's facedown and targeted by a magic card, I can automatically negate the card." James explained as his shield-wielding warrior with 100 attack and 1800 defense was revealed. "That worked out perfectly because now I know exactly what your monster is. And I know that Horus the Black Flame Dragon can easily destroy it!" Alister stated as his dragon destroyed James' warrior in a blaze of fire. "And now Dark Flames Fiend, attack James' life points directly!" Alister commanded as his fiend shot a flaming boulder at James that knocked his life points down to 625.

"Since my Legendary Bird's Legacy is still in play, I can't activate Dark Flames Fiend's ability, but that's only a minor setback. I set one card facedown and end my turn." Alister concluded. "That's fine with me." James replied as he drew a card. "I summon my Bountiful Artemis in attack mode!" James called as his fairy emerged with 1600 attack and 1700 defense. "Now, Bountiful Artemis, go aerial on his Dark Flames Fiend!" James commanded as his fairy slashed Alister's monster, destroying it and bringing Alister's life points down to 1025. "You think that's clever?" Alister remarked. "It's perfectly played, and as true as this facedown card will sometime be." James replied as he laid the unknown card facedown. "That'll end my turn." James concluded.

"I'm sick to death of cleverness, and I'm especially sick of you!" Alister shouted as he drew a card. "And now that two turns have passed, my Legendary Bird's Legacy trap is destroyed. And with it gone, I can activate my other facedown card Special Spell Ops. With this card, I can activate a magic card from my graveyard and use its effect right away. And I think I'll choose the magic card Level Up!" Alister explained as his traps worked their charm. "And now, I can offer up my level six dragon in order to summon the ultimate Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 8 in attack mode!" Alister laughed as a magic aura surrounded his dragon, transforming it into its strongest form with 3000 attack and 1800 defense, boosted to 3500 attack and 2300 defense due to the Seal of Orichalcos. "Now with my ultimate creature on the field, there's no way I can lose! You'll burn like a flaming meteor as you crash to the darkness!" Alister laughed evilly.


	35. Chapter 35: Alister's Fate

Chapter 35- Alister's Fate

"Now, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 8, destroy James' Bountiful Artemis!" Alister commanded as his dragon let out a roar and shot a blast of fire at James' monster. "Not so fast, Alister, I activate my trap card Negate Attack. Not only does this block your attack, but since I'm activating a counter trap card, Bountiful Artemis lets me draw a card." James countered as he drew a card. "Like that matters, you'll burn soon enough. I lay one card facedown and end my turn." Alister concluded. "Alright, then it's time to fight off this dragon." James stated as he drew a card. "Alright, I've got a plan here. I activate Monster Reborn to bring back…" James began but was interrupted. "Obviously you don't know about Horus' special ability. Using him, I can negate and destroy any magic card that's played. So I can easily destroy your Monster Reborn card and put an end to whatever puny plan you had." Alister countered.

"Oh no, if James can't play any magic cards, then he's at a serious disadvantage." Kristiann stated. "Hmm, in that case, I'll lay one card facedown and then summon my Royal Knight." James continued as his fairy knight emerged with 1300 attack and 800 defense. "That ends my turn." James concluded with nothing left to play. "Not only does that end your turn, but it will soon end this duel." Alister remarked as he drew a card. "Nothing you have can stand up to the power of Horus the Black Flame Dragon. Show them exactly what I mean, Horus!" Alister commanded as his ultimate dragon shot a steady stream of fire energy that engulfed Bountiful Artemis, destroying it. "To end my turn, I'll set one card facedown. It's your move, although there's nothing you can do." Alister concluded. "You may say there's nothing I can do, but I beg to differ." James stated as he drew a card.

"And here's just the card I need to win this duel. But first, I'll use my Call of the Haunted trap card in order to bring back my Airknight Parshath." James began as his fairy knight remerged with 1900 attack and 1400 defense. "What is that card going to do for you? It's too weak!" Alister asked. "It may be for now, but I have something else you probably weren't expecting. I activate the Claw of Hermos!" James exclaimed happily. "You can't do that, Horus stops all magic cards!" Alister countered. "Nothing can stop the activation of one of the legendary dragon cards. So I'll use its legendary power to fuse Hermos together with my Airknight Parshath to form the Sword of the Heavens! And I'll give it to my Royal Knight." James exclaimed as his great sky sword was endowed to his other monster. "My Sword of the Heavens gives my Royal Knight and extra 1000 attack points, but since Sanctuary in the Sky is in play, he gets an extra 1000 points." James explained as his monster's attack points rose to a total of 3300. "Big deal, he's still too weak! Looks like your pathetic legendary dragon is still not enough to beat me!" Alister laughed. "Yes, but my Sword of the Heavens has another effect. Once per turn, I can automatically destroy one of your monsters if that monster is a higher level than my own. And since my Royal Knight only has three stars and your Black Flame Dragon has eight, I can easily destroy him. Go!" James explained, but Alister answered with a smirk.

"I told you your dragon is not enough, because I have a trap: my Dark Flames Spell card. This card can negate the effect of your sword, allowing my Black Flame Dragon to stick around for a little while longer." Alister countered. "Oh no, Hermos wasn't enough, Alister still has a chance!" Kristiann exclaimed. "Alright then, I guess I have to end my turn. I set one card facedown and then do so. I guess it all ends for one of us soon enough." James concluded. "It appears so, only I can guarantee you that it'll be you who it ends for." Alister remarked as he drew a card. "Looks like we were both right James, it all ends here. Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 8, destroy James' Royal Knight!" Alister commanded as his dragon shot a stream of fire energy at James' monster. "Alright, last chance time. I activate my trap card Blessings of Chivalry. Even though it can't stop your attack from hitting, it prevents my Royal Knight from being destroyed in battle." James countered. "That may be, but your life points still pay the price." Alister pointed out as his attack hit and, with a scream from the victim, dropped James' life points down to 100.

"I'm still here." James panted, much to Alister's shock. "Then I guess there's no redemption for me. I end my turn." Alister concluded sadly. "It looks like it truly ends here." James stated as he drew a card. "Now I activate the effect of my Sword of the Heavens and destroy Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 8!" James called out as his Royal Knight flew up and stabbed right into Alister's dragon, destroying it in a flash of fire and light. "Do you have anything left to say Alister?" James asked finally. "No, it's over for me, I accept that. But don't think this is the end forever. There are others who'll carry on for me. But as for now, do your worst!" Alister shouted as he outstretched his arms to receive the blow. "As you wish. Royal Knight, finish him!" James commanded as his Knight gathered energy in its blade and sent a wave of energy that struck Alister and reduced his life points down to a final 0.

"Alright, it's over then!" Kristiann exclaimed happily as flux of magic energy transported her back to the ground. "Alister, it's been a good duel." James told him. "I agree, looks like we're on the same page one last time. Well maybe, but there is still one last order of business." Alister stated as he pulled out a card from his duel disk and tossed it to James. "You could use that card, James, it suits you. Though I think it fits me better, but when it all comes down to it, we're not that different." Alister commented as James looked at the card: Legendary Bird's Legacy. "Farewell, James, we won't ever meet again." Alister said finally as James was transported back to the ground. But for Alister, the sky realm faded away before he did, causing him to fall towards the surface of the earth. As he fell through the atmosphere, the Seal of Orichalcos closed in on him and removed his soul. With nothing left inside, his body disappeared before it hit the ground. As for the Nightmare Shard, it shattered as it finally impacted against the concrete on the street James and Kristiann were standing on once again.


	36. Chapter 36: The Seventh Guardian

Chapter 36- The Seventh Guardian

"So Alister's finally out of the way I guess." James stated as they watched the Nightmare Shard shatter. "Yea, and with him gone, now there's only one Nightmare Shard left to destroy." Kristiann stated. "Alright, we're almost there!" James exclaimed happily. "Yes, but, there's been some prices to pay along the journey." Kristiann turned sadly. "Oh yea, I almost forgot. Before our duel, Alister took all of your family's souls." James remembered. "Yea, but it's ok, I'll survive. After all, after we destroy the seventh shard, Yami can't be reborn and all of the souls will be freed." Kristiann said strongly. "Yea, you're right, there's no need to worry, and we'll destroy that last shard in no time at all." James said confidently. "Exactly. I wonder if we should rest for the night though or if we should just go see Sheik now." Kristiann wondered. "Well considering it's only about noon, I'd say we have plenty of time to at least find out where the last shard is." James speculated. "I agree, we do have a lot of time left today. Alright, then, let's head out now." Kristiann finalized as the two walked to the car. "Wait one last thing before we go…" James trailed off as he kissed Kristiann. "I love you." James told her. "I love you too." Kristiann replied as she looked into his eyes.

"Alright, then let's roll out!" James continued as the pair got into the car and drove off. "James, do you think after we destroy the last Nightmare Shard this whole quest will be over?" Kristiann asked James. "I'm not sure, but somehow I don't think so. Remember when we last saw Sheik before the Noah duel? He seemed to imply that they'll be more challenges even after the last shard is destroyed." James replied. "But how can that be? If all the shards are gone, then Yami can't be reborn. So what other challenges would we have left to face?" Kristiann again wondered. "I don't know, but I guess we'll find out after we destroy that last shard. Or we could ask Sheik when we see him. Speaking of which…" James trailed off as they turned into James' neighborhood.

As they drove up to Owney Park, they saw Sheik standing under the tree, his back turned to them. "Well that's kind of weird. Doesn't Sheik usually just drop down mysteriously?" Kristiann pointed out as she parked the car and her and James got out. "I don't know, but I hope everything's ok. Sheik seemed kind of upset the last time we met." James answered as the two began to walk up to the park. "Hey Sheik, is everything ok?" Kristiann asked as they reached where he was standing. "I'm afraid not everything is well." Sheik answered as he turned around. He looked very upset about something, though emotion was hard to read in him. "Well what's wrong? We destroyed two more of the nightmare shards, so now there's only one left." James told him. "That is very good. You two have been doing an admirable job. The universe thanks you for that." Sheik encouraged. "Well we're welcome. Sheik, can you tell us where the last shard is located so we can go and destroy it?" James asked. "… Yes I can." Sheik answered in a pained voice.

James and Kristiann looked a little worried about him, but watched intently as he focused energy on his chest one last time. "I'm sorry it has come to this." Sheik said flatly as a small crystal appeared in the energy Sheik was focusing. Sheik stopped focusing the energy as grabbed a hold of the dark energy crystal. "You wanted to know where the final nightmare shard is located. It is held in a place of great light. In fact, the seventh nightmare shard is right here." Sheik told them as he put the crystal around his neck. "Sheik, does this mean…" Kristiann trailed off. "Yes, since this is the seventh nightmare shard, then I am its guardian. The seventh and final." Sheik stated, much to the shock of James and Kristiann. "But Sheik… you've been helping us destroy the shards this entire adventure. How can you all of a sudden turn against us now?" Kristiann asked. "I regret to tell you this, but I have been the guardian of this shard since its creation. That is why I have never been able to leave this park, because I am bound to the shard. But do not misunderstand me. I have not been deceiving you this entire time. My role is not only to protect this shard, but also to test you two, and I have done so before by sending you off to destroy the other shards and clash with their guardians. In the event that you destroyed them all, then I was to present you with one final test." Sheik explained. "And what kind of test is that?" James asked.

"I am to face you personally in a duel and push both of you to your limits." Sheik answered as a duel disk suddenly appeared on his arm. It appeared to be a chaos duel disk, but had a more mystical color and aura to it. "And now that time has come. I always knew that destiny would pit us against each other. James, Kristiann, you are to both face me at the same time. Only then can your true potential be put to the test." Sheik told them. "I'm sorry we have to do this, Sheik, but I guess that's how it's meant to be." James replied as he and Kristiann walked to opposite sides of the park. "It is the way it was meant to be. That is the meaning of destiny." Sheik told them as he activated his duel disk. "Then I guess we have no choice. Let's duel!" Kristiann shouted as she and James both activated their duel disks. They all set their life points to 4000, drew their opening hand, and prepared themselves for the final guardian battle.


	37. Chapter 37: Sheik's Endgame

Chapter 37- Sheik's Endgame

"Since I haven't dueled in a while, I think I'll start off this match." Kristiann began as she drew a card. "Sheik, we have been friends since the beginning of the journey, but don't think I'm going to hold anything back. I summon my Gemini Elf in attack mode!" Kristiann called as her twin elves emerged with 1900 attack and 900 defense. "Then I'll lay one card facedown and end my turn." She then concluded. "Alright, I'll pick up from that." James said as he drew a card. "And I'm not holding anything back either. I summon Neo the Magic Swordsman in attack mode!" James called as his magical warrior emerged with 1700 attack and 1000 defense. "Then I'll also lay one card facedown and end my turn." James concluded. "Then let us see what destiny has in store for you." Sheik stated as he drew a card.

"You are both correct in not holding anything back, but I can assure you neither will I. Master Yami has placed me in such a position that makes me stronger than all of the other six guardians. That is why I have the psychic ability to locate the nightmare shards. But not only does I have extra physical powers, but I have also constructed a stronger deck than my guardian brethren. And it is with that extra power that I now activate the trademark cards of all the guardians. I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!" Sheik shouted as the cursed green circle came down and surrounded all three of the duelists. In addition, the symbol of the Seal appeared on Sheik's forehead and parted his hair enough for the Seal to be at least partially visible. "Sheik, you know by playing that card, you've proven that you're evil. Now at least one of us has to lose their soul!" James pointed out. "Please don't think of me as evil. I like to call it balance. Light and darkness cannot exist without each other. That is why I am dedicated to finding balance. For that, light must first be eliminated." Sheik told them.

"And it is with that thought in mind that I summon Chaos Knight in attack mode." Sheik called as his knight of light and darkness emerged with 1500 attack and defense, boosted to 2000 by the Seal of Orichalcos. "And now, my Chaos Knight, destroy the light energy that is James' Neo the Magic Swordsman." Sheik commanded as his knight slashed James' swordsman, destroying it and dropping his life points to 3700. "And to conclude my turn, I lay two cards facedown." Sheik concluded. "Alright then, it's my turn again." Kristiann stated as she drew a card. "And to start off, I activate my Power of Sisterhood card, which allows me to draw one card if Gemini Elf is on my side of the field." Kristiann explained as she drew her card. "And now I can activate my Essence of Light magic card, which allows me to summon one dark monster from my deck and treat it as a light monster. Also, all of my light monsters gain 500 attack points." Kristiann explained, but she was interrupted. "In dueling and in life one has to have to wisdom to know when to act and when to wait. And I believe this is the perfect time to activate my trap card which teaches us this lesson. I activate Wisdom of the Mind!" Sheik countered as his trap was revealed. "When this card is active on the field, once per turn I can negate the effects of any magic or trap card. And I choose now to negate the power of your Essence of Light spell card." Sheik explained as Kristiann's trap was negated.

"In that case, I'll set one monster facedown in defense mode and end my turn." Kristiann concluded as her unknown monster emerged. "Alright, then it's time for me to pick up the slack." James said as he drew a card. "And first, I'll activate my facedown card Call of the Haunted, which lets me bring back Neo the Magic Swordsman." James stated, but he too was interrupted. "Have you forgotten already about my Wisdom of the Mind trap card? I use its effect now to negate your Call of the Haunted." Sheik countered as James' trap was destroyed. "Then I have nothing left than to summon my Scout Knight in defense mode. That ends my turn." James concluded as his armored knight emerged with 1600 attack and 1300 defense. "Naturally, though I expected a bit more from you." Sheik said disappointingly as he drew a card. "Again, I shall teach you something about the balance of the universe. In every living being, there is the energy that courses through them. Some call this blood, some call it spirits, and some still in modern culture call it the Force. But in reality what makes all beings live is the power they all hold within them. However, some of us do have more of this power than others. And this card holds the essence of that power as well. I activate Right Hand's Power!" Sheik stated as he activated his continuous magic card.

"With this magic card, I can summon one Triforce Token in attack mode once during each of my turns. So I'll activate that effect now and call forth a Triforce Token." Sheik explained as his golden warrior emerged with a total of 1500 attack and defense. "But now I'll sacrifice my Triforce Token to summon my Chaos Psychic in attack mode." Sheik then called as his female spellcaster of light and darkness emerged with 2000 attack and defense, boosted to 2500 by the Seal of Orichalcos. "And my Chaos Psychic also has a special ability. She can attack twice a turn if she attacks two monsters of different attributes. So Chaos Psychic, destroy Kristiann's two monsters with chaos beam!" Sheik commanded as his monster shot a beam of energy from each hand, destroying both Kristiann's earth Gemini Elf and light facedown Magician of Faith and dropping her life points down to 3400. "You may have destroyed both of my monsters but because my Magician of Faith was destroyed, I can add one magic card from my graveyard to my hand." Kristiann explained as she returned her Essence of Light card to her hand.

"That matters not. Chaos Knight, destroy James' lesser Knight with chaos slash!" Sheik then commanded as his knight slashed apart James's warrior. "Well my monster also has an ability that activates when it's destroyed. Since you destroyed my Scout Knight, I can look at the top three cards of my deck and summon a monster I find there. And now that I look at the cards, I've found that I can summon Cyber-Tech Alligator!" James called as his cyborg monster emerged with 2500 attack and 1600 defense. "A formidable monster for sure, but he's no match for me ultimately. I lay one card facedown and end my turn." Sheik concluded. "Then it's my turn again." Kristiann stated as she drew a card. "First I'll activate Life-Giving Sunshine, which lets me destroy one of your trap cards, and I'll let it destroy your Wisdom of the Mind card." Kristiann explained. "In that case, I'll use that same trap to negate your magic card." Sheik countered. "That's exactly what I was hoping you would do. Because since you can only use that effect once per turn, now I can activate my Essence of Light card without worry." Kristiann stated as she played the card. "With this I can summon my Dark Magician Girl to the field as a light monster and from here on out, all of my light monsters gain 500 attack." Kristiann explained as her female magician emerged with a total of 2500 attack and 1700 defense.

"And since that was a special summon, I can also summon my D.D. Assailant in attack mode." Kristiann called as her female warrior emerged with 1700 attack and 1600 defense. "And now, Dark Magician Girl, attack Chaos Knight!" Kristiann commanded as her spellcaster shot a blast of dark magic at Sheik's monster. "In order to find balance, one must look inside oneself. And this card forces you to do just that. I activate my trap card Mirror Force!" Sheik countered as his trap activated. "This trap takes your attack and shots it right back at you, destroying all of your monsters automatically." Sheik explained as the magic blast was reflected back and destroyed all of Kristiann's and James's monsters. "Oh no, we have no monsters now!" James exclaimed. "That is correct. Did you by chance underestimate me? Never underestimate destiny. This is perhaps your toughest challenge yet. Now pick up the pieces and show me what you have!" Sheik demanded as Kristiann ended her turn.


	38. Chapter 38: Triforce Unity

Chapter 38- Triforce Unity

"As you wish, Sheik. But be careful what you wish for." James told him as he drew a card. "Alright, I got a plan. First I activate Swing of Memories to bring back Neo the Magic Swordsman for one turn." James began as his swordsman returned to the field with 1700 attack and 1000 defense. "You want to talk destiny, Sheik? Then this card can show you all about what destiny is all about. I sacrifice Neo in order to summon my Destiny Hero- Double Dude in attack mode." James called as his magical warrior was replaced with the gentlemanly hero with 1000 attack and defense. "But since he's not strong enough on his own, I'll then activate this magic card: Riryoku! This card halves the attack power of your Chaos Psychic and adds it to Double Dude for one turn." James explained as Sheik's monster's attack power was reduced to 1250 and James's monster's power rose to 2250. "And with that kind of firepower, Double Dude, attack Sheik's Chaos Psychic!" James called as his warrior flew forward and destroyed Sheik's monster, reducing his life points to 3000. "But that's not all, Double Dude can attack twice during the same battle phase. So now, Double Dude, also destroy Chaos Knight!" James added as his warrior, without missing a beat, destroyed Sheik's other monster, bringing his life points down further to 2750. "And with that, and a little facedown action, I end my turn." James concluded as he placed a card facedown and his monster's attack power returned to normal.

"Excellent." Sheik simply stated as he drew a card. "But I'm afraid not good enough. First, I activate Graceful Charity, which let's me draw three cards if I then discard two." Sheik explained. "And now, if I first remove my light Sky Scourge Enrise that I just discarded and my dark Chaos Knight from play, then I can call forth my Chaos Sorcerer to the field in attack mode." Sheik explained as his dark spellcaster emerged with 2300 attack and 2000 defense, boosted to 2800 attack and 2500 defense due to the Seal of Orichalcos. "But I'm afraid that is not all. You see, most people in this world only settle for what is good enough. But few of us choose to go the extra mile and achieve greatness. But I am one of those that have the courage the do what heroes only dream of. And this card proves that as well as teaches its lesson. I activate Left Hand's Courage!" Sheik explained as he played the continuous magic card. "This card increases the attack power of one of my monsters by 500 for my battle phase only. And for this particular battle phase, I'll increase the attack power of my Chaos Sorcerer." Sheik explained as his magician's attack power rose to 3300. "But before I declare my attack, I'll first summon another Triforce Token, courtesy of my Right Hand's Power magic card." Sheik added as his golden knight emerged with a total of 1500 attack and defense.

" And now, I could destroy your Destiny Hero- Double Dude, but I don't think I will. Since Kristiann has no monsters on her side of the field, I think I'll send my Chaos Sorcerer to attack her life points directly!" Sheik commanded as his sorcerer threw a ball of energy at Kristiann. "Sorry, Sheik, but I just can't allow that. I activate my trap card Attack Guidance Armor, which lets me redirect your attack to a different target, namely your Triforce Token." James explained as his armor attached itself to Sheik's Token, redirecting the attack to the golden knight and reducing Sheik's life points to 950. "Thanks, James." Kristiann sighed. "No problem, anytime." James smiled and gave a thumbs-up. "The love you share is your strongest weapon. But while that may be your greatest strength, it is still no match for the power of destiny. I lay one card facedown and end my turn." Sheik concluded and his monster's attack power returned to normal.

"Alright then, it's my turn." Kristiann stated. "Alright, here we go I have just what I need now. But first I have to activate the magic card Soul Release to remove all of the monsters in my graveyard from play." Kristiann began. "But then, since I have no monsters in my graveyard, I can special summon a monster of great light: Guardian Eatos!" Kristiann called as her angelic guardian emerged with 2500 attack and 2000 defense. "That monster might be powerful, but he's not quite strong enough." Sheik pointed out. "For now, but now I can activate the equip card Black Pendant and give it to my Guardian Eatos, increasing his attack power by 500." Kristiann added as the powerful necklace appeared around Eatos's neck, boosting its attack power to 3000. "And now, Guardian Eatos, destroy Chaos Sorcerer!" Kristiann commanded as Eatos shot a blast of light energy at Sheik's monster. "An admirable effort, but I'm afraid not good enough. I activate my trap card Draining Shield. This card increases my life points by 3000 and negates your attack." Sheik countered as a force field surrounded Sheik's monster and increased his life points to 3950. "Alright, then in that case, I end my turn." Kristiann concluded. "In that case, I'll pick up where my lady left off." James stated as he drew a card.

"I could activate this magic card, but I know that your Wisdom of the Mind trap would just negate it. That's why I'm instead summoning my Exiled Force in attack mode." James called as his forgotten warriors emerged with 1000 attack and defense. "They may be just a bunch of vagabonds, but they have an awesome effect: if I sacrifice them, then I can also destroy one monster on your side of the field. So I'll offer up my Exiled Force in order to destroy your Chaos Sorcerer." James stated as his men crowded around Sheik's monster as they both passed to the graveyard. "And since you're now left totally defenseless, Double Dude attack Sheik's life points directly!" James commanded as his gentleman dashed forward and struck Sheik, dropping his life points to 2950. "But my Double Dude's special ability lets him attack twice during the same battle phase, so Double Dude attack Sheik again!" James added as his warrior, again perfectly, hit Sheik, dropping his life points further to 1950. "With that done, I'll lay one card facedown and end my turn." James concluded.

"You are doing quite well in this duel, but I'm afraid it will all be over soon." Sheik stated as he closed his eyes and drew a card. "Destiny has allowed me to draw exactly the card I need. I have taught you in this duel all about balance and the forces that govern our universe. But now it is time to prove you have learned what I have been preaching. It is time for you to meet the creature that represents the perfect balance of courage, wisdom, and power. But first I must summon a Triforce Token using my Right Hand's Power card." Sheik explained as his token emerged with 1500 attack and defense. "And now, I activate the ultimate magic card Triforce Unity! Now by offering up my Triforce Token and sending my Left Hand's Courage, Right Hand's Power, and Wisdom of the Mind to the graveyard, I can summon the essence of balance itself: Golden Triforce Knight!" Sheik exclaimed as his magic and trap cards were destroyed and his token was transformed into a magnificent golden, winged knight with 3300 attack and defense. But then the cursed Seal of Orichalcos infected his monster, giving it its symbol and boosting its power to 3800 attack and defense.

"Now with the golden power of the gods under my control, I activate my Golden Knight's effect. By giving up 900 life points, I can destroy one magic or trap card on either of your sides of the field. And I'll use it to destroy your Black Pendant!" Sheik explained as his life points dropped to 1050 and Eatos's necklace was destroyed, returning its attack points to 2500. "You may have destroyed my Black Pendant, but by sending it to the graveyard, you take 500 points of damage to your life points." Kristiann explained as Sheik's life points dropped again to 550. "That's nothing compared to the damage I'm about to do to you. I activate the spell card Twin Swords of Flashing Light- Tryce and equip it to my Golden Knight. I may have to discard one card to activate it, but by doing so and decreasing my Knight's attack points by 500, it can attack twice per turn." Sheik explained as his Knight's attack points dropped to 3300. "Now, Golden Triforce Knight, first destroy Guardian Eatos with divine swords strike!" Sheik commanded as his Knight slashed apart Kristiann's monster, reducing her life points to 2600. "Now, Triforce Knight, also destroy James' Double Dude!" Sheik added as James' monster suffered the same fate, dropping his life points to 1400. "I now lay this card facedown for destiny to use later and end my turn. Give me your all." Sheik demanded as he ended his turn.

"Don't mind if I do." Kristiann stated as she drew a card. "Alright James, this is going to take teamwork to defeat this Golden Knight. You ready?" Kristiann asked her partner. "Of course, let's do it." James said in reply. "Alright then, I activate my facedown trap card Return from the Different Dimension. By giving up half of my life points, I can summoned my removed from play Gemini Elf, D.D. Assailant, and Dark Magician Girl." Kristiann explained as all of her monsters returned to the field and her life points dropped to 1300. "And now I sacrifice my Gemini Elf and D.D. Assailant in order to summon my favorite Shining Arctic Queen in attack mode." Kristiann called as her familiar emerged with 2800 attack and 1500 defense, boosted to 3300 attack by her Essence of Light card. "Our monsters have equal attack power, but that's all I have. It's up to now James." Kristiann passed the baton. "Alright, I won't let you down." James stated as he drew a card. "And I too have just what I need. First, since my Destiny Hero- Double Dude was destroyed last turn, I can summon two Double Dude Tokens to the field." James explained as his doubles appeared with 1000 attack and defense each. "But that's not all. Now I sacrifice both of my Double Dude Tokens along with Kristiann's Dark Magician Girl to summon my Gilford the Lightning in attack mode!" James called as his thunder warrior emerged with 2800 attack and 1400 defense.

"But that's not the best part, since Gilford was summoned with three sacrifices, all monsters on your side of the field are automatically destroyed!" James exclaimed as his warrior launched a blaze of lightning that ripped apart Sheik's monster and sent Sheik sprawling backwards where he fell face flat on the ground. "Not… bad. Destiny must be on your side. But since you just destroyed my Golden Triforce Knight, your turn is automatically over." Sheik gasped as he rose to his feet again and drew a card. "And with that over, it is time for your ultimate test. All of the events of this adventure have led up to this one set of turns. The intention of destiny shall be revealed here and now. For now I hold the ultimate card. I'm sorry it has come down to this, but it was the way things were meant to be. I have now in my hand a card not unlike your own, but it shall soon face its own destiny. Prepare yourselves, James, Kristiann and let us hope you are ready to face up to the power I now hold." Sheik spoke dramatically as he revealed the card in his hand. Much to the shock of James and Kristiann, the card was the third legendary dragon: The Fang of Critias.


	39. Chapter 39: The Ultimate Balance

Chapter 39- The Ultimate Balance

"What?! Sheik, is that…" Kristiann trailed off. "Yes, this is the third legendary dragon: Critias." Sheik replied. "But how did you get the third dragon? I thought that only those chosen to save the world could release them." James asked. "You are not incorrect in saying that. Destiny only allows the chosen ones to unlock the dragons from their crystal seal. Since that is true, then it is also true that I was chosen by destiny to release the dragon. Right after you two left to confront Noah, a great light surrounded me and a soft female voice urged me to awaken the dragon Critias. It has been with me ever since." Sheik told them. "But you're a guardian of a nightmare shard! If you use the Seal of Orichalcos, then how could you possibly also use a legendary dragon? They're practically polar opposites of each other!" Kristiann asked. "Precisely, and that is exactly why I was chosen to hold the dragon. As I have been propounding into you for while, balance is the key to the universe. Light and darkness must become one in order for the world to be saved. And since I already hold the ultimate darkness, it was fitting that I hold the emissary of light." Sheik replied.

"But there has been enough talk. It is the time for action. It is now time to activate the Fang of Critias!" Sheik exclaimed as his dragon appeared behind him with a mighty roar. "And in playing Critias, I must fuse him with a magic or trap card. So I'll fuse him with my facedown card Chaos Mirror in order to form Chaos Mirror Dragon!" Sheik explained as his cards fused together to create the dragon covered with mirrors and 2800 attack and 2500 defense. But then the dragon started to roar in pain and began to fade away. "You see, your dragon can't be used when the Seal of Orichalcos is in play. Can't you see, how it's screaming in pain?" James questioned. "While it may be true that normally legendary dragons and the Orichalcos don't mix, I have found a way to make an exception. Look at all of the mirrors coating the body of my dragon. At first they appear to be smooth reflective surfaces. But take a closer look…" Sheik told them. James and Kristiann did indeed look closer and saw that on each of the dragon's mirrors was now the cursed symbol of the Seal of Orichalcos. "What does this mean? What are you doing, Sheik?!" Kristiann asked as Sheik's dragon roared in pain even louder. Across the evening sky, storm clouds began to congregate around the area.

Thunder struck and a green beam fell from the sky and hit Chaos Mirror Dragon. "Normally the two forces of light and darkness could not coexist. But they can if they exist in the same body. Normally Chaos Mirror lets me copy the effect of one magic or trap card face-up on the field. So it's fitting that Chaos Mirror Dragon also can take on the attributes of a face-up magic or trap card. So I'll use that reflective ability to copy the effects of the Seal of Orichalcos, transforming my Chaos Mirror Dragon into the Legendary Orichalcos Dragon!" Sheik exclaimed as his dragon's mirrors were transformed into glowing green crystals, which coated its body like armor, save for one large crystal jutting out of the dragon's chest. All at once, Sheik's legendary dragon was infused with the Orichalcos and began the great evil dragon with 3300 attack and 3000 defense, boosted to 3800 attack and 3500 defense due to the actual Seal that was still in play. "Now witness the ultimate power of the legendary dragon of both light and darkness!" Sheik exclaimed as the skies opened up and let loose its rain on the earth.

Meanwhile…

"Ah!" Seto Kaiba shouted startled as he woke up from his nap. "It's ok big brother, it's only just a storm. It came out of nowhere that's all." Mokuba consoled his brother from the other side of the hotel room. "Hunh, what? Oh no, it wasn't the storm that woke me up, it was this bad dream I just had." Kaiba told his little brother. "Oh, what happened?" Mokuba asked. "It wasn't too bad, it just startled me that's all. You remember that legendary dragon card I once had right? Critias? Well I had this dream that this mysterious man played that card and transformed it into an evil dragon using the Seal of Orichalcos card. But it was just a dream; nothing to worry about." Kaiba told him. "Oh ok, whatever you say, bro. This storm is really bad though, I don't know where it came from." Mokuba stated as he looked out the window. "Please, it's just a little rain, nothing to worry about." Kaiba replied as he reached for the TV remote and turned the television on. "We have just received breaking news that a strange storm has just come out of nowhere around the Trinity area." The well-dressed news announcer stated. "I told you the storm came out of nowhere." Mokuba pointed out. "Shut up Mokuba." Kaiba remarked.

"Here is video footage of the area where a man just reported a strange green beam coming down from the sky and hit a large dragon. It appears this storm may be related to the effects of a game of Duel Monsters taking place in the Longleaf neighborhood." The news anchor continued as the video played on the television screen. "Hey, big brother, that dragon looks a little bit like Critias, doesn't it?" Mokuba pointed out to his wide-eyed brother. "Mokuba, that's exactly how Critias looked in my dream." Kaiba revealed. "Well then, do you think we should go check it out? It probably has something to do with James and Kristiann. And you promised that if anything happened by tomorrow that we'd go help." Mokuba reminded him. "… You're right. It might be worth my time checking out, but I don't think it's anything too serious. Call Roland and have him meet us at the car." Kaiba demanded as he went to get his coat on.

Meanwhile…

"My Legendary Orichalcos Dragon is the ultimate balance of light and darkness and the agent of destiny that will push you to your limits." Sheik told his opponents as his dragon let out a mighty, yet somewhat pained, roar. "Now, Legendary Orichalcos Dragon, destroy James' Gilford the Lightning!" Sheik commanded as his possessed dragon let out another roar and shot a blast of green fire at James' warrior. "I beg to differ. I activate the trap card Magic Cylinder and use to it shoot your attack right back at you." James countered, but Sheik simply chuckled. "It's going to take a lot more than that to stop destiny. My Legendary Orichalcos Dragon has a special ability that makes him practically invincible. As long as he remains on the field, you cannot activate any magic or trap cards. In addition, Critias cannot be sent to the graveyard by any card effect or attack." Sheik revealed as James' trap was negated and Sheik's attack continued, incinerating James' warrior and reducing his life points to 400.

"I have laid my strongest monster before you. If you can defeat it, then so be it. But I highly doubt that you can. At any rate, make your final moves." Sheik ended his turn dramatically. "Alright then, James here we go. This might be it. Are you ready baby?" Kristiann asked her partner. "As ready as I'll ever be. Let's show this guy what the true meaning of destiny is!" James replied confidently. "Alright, then let's go." Kristiann said as she drew a card. "There was only one card in my entire deck that could have saved me… and I just drew it now. Whose on destiny's side now?!" Kristiann exclaimed happily to an emotionless Sheik. "I activate the Eye of Timaeus!" Kristiann called as her legendary green dragon let out a roar and appeared above her. "And I fuse my legendary dragon with my Shining Arctic Queen to form the ultimate Shining Arctic Dragon!" Kristiann added with enthusiasm as her queen rode the frigid dragon. Together they had a combined total of 3200 attack and 2800 defense. "And of course, my Shining Arctic Dragon has a special ability, one to counter your dragons. Once per turn, I can choose one of your monsters and put the freeze on any special abilities it has until the end of your next turn. So I'll use that effect to put your dragon on ice!" Kristiann explained as her queen raised her scepter and surrounded Sheik's dragon in an arctic aura.

"And since I can use magic and trap cards again, I'll set this card facedown for James to use. That ends my turn. It's up to you now James." Kristiann said as she nodded to her partner. "I won't let you down." James stated as he drew a card. "And I really meant it too, because now I have all that I need to end this duel once and for all. First I summon my Messenger Dusknoir in attack mode." James called as his spirit gift from Noah emerged with 2000 attack and 700 defense. "And now, since I can play magic cards again thanks to my lovely lady, I can activate this card: Monster Reborn to bring back Gilford the Lightning." James added as his electric warrior returned with 2800 attack and 1400 defense. "And now, if I know Kristiann like I think I do, then I know exactly what card she placed facedown for me. I activate Kristiann's facedown card Victory Alliance!" James called as Kristiann's facedown magic card was revealed to be exactly the card James was expecting. "Alright, good job, baby. Now let's finish this!" Kristiann exclaimed happily. "I think I will. Using this card, I can add the attack points of two monsters together into one attack for one shot. So I'll use the combined forces of Shining Arctic Dragon and Gilford the Lightning to destroy your Legendary Orichalcos Dragon." James explained.

"Go Shining Arctic Dragon and Gilford the Lightning, destroy Sheik's corrupt dragon with lightning arctic blast!" James and Kristiann both shouted at the same time as their two monsters fused their attacks together to strike at Sheik's dragon, obliterating it in a blaze of lighting, ice, and green light. "By discarding my Arcana Force XIV- Temperance from my hand, I prevented all battle damage from that attack. But it's all over for me. Congratulations, James, Kristiann. Truly destiny is in your favor. Now deal the final blow to me and finalize your test, of which you have passed." Sheik told them. "Thanks, Sheik, I will. Messenger Dusknoir, attack Sheik's life points directly and put an end to this madness!" James commanded as his spirit flew forward and got right up to Sheik's face. With all the shadow energy in the palm of its hand, Dusknoir released its power, shooting Sheik backwards where he flew and laid facedown, his life points finally hitting 0.


	40. Chapter 40: The Master's Plan

Chapter 40- The Master's Plan

"It's over, Sheik. Who's on destiny's side now?" Kristiann asked mockingly as the rain began to lessen until it was just a drizzle. "It appears you two are. Believe it or not, I knew it all along that I would lose this duel. I have foreseen all the lines of destiny and my loss was no exception." Sheik stated as he lifted himself up a little bit from the ground. "James, Kristiann, I have not lied to you at all. But perhaps I have implied things that may have been untruthful. I don't have much time left in this world, but there is one thing I must reveal to you." Sheik continued as the Seal of Orichalcos began to close in around him. "This card, the Fang of Critias, while might have been mine for a while, is not ultimately meant to be in my hands. After I pass from this world, the legendary dragon Critias will be passed on to the true hero of destiny. He will team up with you and only together can the three of you defeat Yami and save the world." Sheik predicted. "A third person? But Sheik, who is it? Who's the hero who'll help us defeat Yami?" James asked. "… the third person… you have already met him… his name starts with the same letter as mine… the third person… is right over there." Sheik revealed as he pointed to a black limo that was pulling up to the park.

"That is my final prediction. Farewell James, Kristiann. Please, save the world and bring balance to the universe." Sheik bid goodbye as he fell again face down on the grass. The Seal of Orichalcos finished closing in on Sheik and, with a green beam to the heavens, took his soul. Sheik's body completely disappeared, leaving only a pale nightmare shard and the Fang of Critias in his place. "Sheik…" Kristiann sighed as James picked up the legendary dragon card and stepped on the final nightmare shard, destroying it. "Well that's it; all of the nightmare shards have been destroyed." James stated. "Alright! But what do we do now?" Kristiann asked. "I'm not sure, but I have an idea." James replied as he looked at the card and the approaching men. Coming from the parked limo, Seto and Mokuba Kaiba were walking towards them.

"Hey there, Kaiba's! How's it going?" James greeted them with an outstretched hand. "Spare me the pleasantries, there's business to take care of. Who was that man you were just dueling?" Kaiba asked without shaking James' hand. "That was Sheik, he was the guy who was helping us find the nightmare shards. But then he turned out to be evil himself so we had to duel him." Kristiann explained. "That's great. Now why did he have Critias?" Kaiba asked impatiently. "I'm not too sure, but it appears he awakened it himself. Wait, how did you know that Sheik had Critias?" James asked. "… That's none of your business." Kaiba snapped back. "Kaiba, right before the Seal of Orichalcos took Sheik's soul, he told us something. He told us that he wasn't the one destined to help us defeat Yami and that someone else was. Kaiba, that person is you." James accused. "You expect me to believe that? I don't know if you know much about me, kid, but I don't believe in any of that destiny nonsense." Kaiba replied annoyed. "But Kaiba it all makes sense, obviously you knew about Critias, that means your bond with it is still strong. Plus Sheik said the chosen person was in your car and had a name that starts with the letter S. It must be you!" James replied.

"Now listen here, kid, I don't care about your little games or even about you." Kaiba remarked. "But Kaiba, I still owe you a card after you gave me the card you won from Ken. At least take that." James offered as he handed him the Fang of Critias. "Whatever, I never turn down a strong card." Kaiba replied as he took the card. The instant the card was in his hand a mystical light began to shine from it. Two similar lights also shone from James and Kristiann's legendary dragon cards, which they took out and held out by Kaiba's. "At last, all of the legendary dragons are in the possession of the destined heroes!" A familiar female voice exclaimed. Suddenly, a wisp of light came from Kristiann's deck and Dark Magician Girl was standing next to the three heroes. "Kaiba, James, and Kristiann, you three are the true heroes chosen by destiny to save the world from the forces of darkness." Dark Magician Girl began. "Oh no, not this crap again." Kaiba rolled his eyes. "But we already destroyed all of the nightmare shards? Doesn't that mean that Yami can't be reborn and we win?" Kristiann asked. "I'm afraid that is not the case. Yami still lives and is waiting for you at the place where you originally defeated him. But please, you need the strength of all three of you. You are about to face your toughest challenge yet." Dark Magician Girl revealed right before she disappeared.

"Well that was odd." Kaiba stated frankly. "And highly convenient. But what did Dark Magician Girl mean about our toughest challenge yet? I guess the place she's talking about…" Kristiann trailed off. "Yea, it must be the place where we dealt the final blow to him the last time we faced off: St. Leo's Church." James stated. "I think you're right. We should head there immediately. Kaiba, are you going to come with us? You heard what Dark Magician Girl said, we need your help." Kristiann implored. "Please, you expect me to believe in any of this hocus pocus nonsense. Get real. I'm out of here." Kaiba stated as he and Mokuba walked back to the limo. "Kaiba, don't be a fool, we need you!" James shouted, but to no avail. "Forget about him, if he doesn't want to help us, then we can't force him. But we should get going, I have a feeling that something big is going down at St. Leo's." Kristiann urged as they walked out to the car and drove off in the sunset towards the final destination.

"Big brother, don't you think we should at least do something to help them? After all, I think it's pretty clear they need you." Mokuba asked his brother in the car they were driving back to their hotel room. "Shut up Mokuba, I don't intend on doing anything in the least; although the return of the legendary dragons and the Orichalcos does intrigue me." Kaiba replied. "I think we should go to the church at see what's going on." Mokuba stated. Kaiba thought to himself for a moment before giving his answer. "Fine, if it'll give you some peace of mind, then we'll go over. But once we see that there's nothing too exciting there, we're heading back to the hotel." Kaiba replied, much to Mokuba's rejoicing. "Roland, pull up directions to St. Leo's Church and head there immediately." Kaiba ordered to his driver.

Night had fallen by the time Kristiann and James arrived at the entrance of St. Leo's Church. "Alright, this is it; whatever's going down is going down now." James stated as they walked up to the church doors. "Yep, it all ends here I guess. But wait, before we go in…" Kristiann trailed off as she turned to James and gave him a kiss. "Just in case. Now let's go get 'em!" Kristiann exclaimed as they walked into the church. What they saw inside shocked and amazed them. All of the stained glass windows and altarpieces were covered by a black cloth, making the only light a few electric lanterns hanging from the ceiling. But the most amazing thing was the huge green and purple vortex swirling chaotically in front of the altar. The church was deserted expect for Yami James himself knelling in front of a young woman who lay across the first and only pew left in the church. "Anna!" James shouted as he started to run towards them. "Wait! Don't be so hasty, James, sometimes it's not worth it." Yami commanded as he raised his hand to signal them to stop, which they did. "Good, now listen for a moment. This girl, she was a great light in your life. Naturally, that is why she must be eliminated. Look at her now, see how she is squirming in her apparent sleep. As we speak now, she is running through a mountain passage, being chased by strikes of lightning and I, riding on my dark steed." Yami spoke with his eyes closed. "But now, it is all over for her. She has tried to outrun me, but alas, she trips and falls. I jump off of my dragon and she screams your name. I smirk and unleash the power of the Seal of Orichalcos." Yami continued as the green circle appeared around the young woman. Just as suddenly as it appeared, it again disappeared as did her squirming. "Now it is all over. Her soul belongs to me, her great light extinguished by my ultimate darkness." Yami concluded his speech and he stood up and turned to his guests.

"You're sick Yami!" Kristiann shouted disgusted. "But how are you here at all? The last time I saw you, you were just a shadow, but now you've got a complete physical form. I don't get it." James asked confused. "Then allow me to explain everything. You see, I've tricked you fools from the very beginning. You were under the impression that the shards contained pieces of my soul and by destroying them, you would have destroyed me. But you were completely wrong. While it may be true that the nightmare shards did contain the fragments of my soul I scattered across the land, destroying them does not destroy the soul fragment, it simply releases it. Didn't you notice how every time you first saw the shard it glowed vividly with shadow energy, but then once you defeated the guardian protecting it, it became pale? Well, the part of my soul in the shard became a physical manifestation every time one of my guardians was awakened. Each guardian was essentially a part of my soul. And by defeating them, the Seal of Orichalcos took their soul, which of course was returned to me, allowing me to be completely revived." Yami explained. "So thank you, I couldn't have been reborn without you." Yami said mockingly with a dark smile.

"What, but that can't be!" Kristiann exclaimed. "Oh but it is, you helped me be reborn every time you defeated one of my guardians. And now, with their power along with all of the other souls I've gathered along the way, the final phase of my plan can be put into effect." Yami stated. "And what would that be?" James asked. "Take a look at the swirling vortex behind me. It is an interdimensional portal to a dark world that I have created using our subconscious as a base. It is a world in which I am the supreme king. And world of complete darkness that will soon expand and consume the entire world." Yami ranted with excitement. "But first you two must be eliminated." Yami then said seriously at his enemies. "We'll take you on here and now! We've beaten you once and we can do it again! Plus now we have the legendary dragon cards!" Kristiann challenged.

"Oh yes, those silly things. I'm afraid their power is nothing compared to my own. But if you wish to follow me into my nightmare world, then I'm not going to stop you. But if you choose to do so, then you must first get past my most loyal general. Nightshroud, get out here, I have a mission for you!" Yami shouted towards the vortex. Right away, a long, brown haired young man dressed entirely in black stepped out of the portal. He wore a pitch black duel disk on his left arm and a black, bird-like mask over his face, save his mouth, with solid blue-green eyes and a red jewel on its forehead. "You called, Master?" The man apparently called Nightshroud said to Yami. "Yes, I want you to make sure these fools don't cross over into our dark world. Destroy them, like you've done to so many others." Yami ordered as he walked towards his general. "Use this deck, as it would make quite the appropriate boss battle for these fools. And I'm also placing you in charge of my most loyal beast, my very own dark dragon. Don't let me down." Yami said as he handed Nightshroud a deck and another card that glowed with a dark aura. "Yes, Master, I won't fail you." Nightshroud replied. "In that case, au revoir, James and Kristiann. If all goes well, we won't ever meet again." Yami waved as he stepped into the portal and disappeared.

"So you're Kristiann, hunh? Somehow I imagined you a lot stronger looking. And James, I'm sure we've been acquainted. I'm responsible for all of the nightmares that have plagued you for so long. And speaking of nightmares, I am your worst: Nightshroud by name." Nightshroud introduced himself. "I don't care who you are, we'll break right through you!" Kristiann shouted as she activated her duel disk. "That's right, we'll take you on together and then follow Yami into the dark world." James agreed as he activated his own duel disk. "So it's to be two against one then? That's fine with me. The dark dragon Yami gave me is more than enough to destroy the two of you. Are you two ready to sink into eternal nightmare then?" Nightshroud taunted as he activated his duel disk. All of them drew their opening hand and set their life points to 4000. "Let's duel!" All three of them shouted at the same time.


	41. Chapter 41: The Sins of our Guardians

Chapter 41- The Sins of our Guardians

"I'll make the first move." Nightshroud began as he drew a card. "My mission may be to stop you from entering the nightmare world and taking your souls for Master Yami, but I've added another objective to my case. With this deck Master Yami's given me for this duel, I'll claim vengeance against you two for defeating the guardians of the nightmare shards. Even though it was all part of the master plan, they still hold some personal grudges against you." Nightshroud began. "And to begin my revenge, I'll trap you in the same card endowed to all of the nightmare shard guardians. I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!" Nightshroud exclaimed as the accursed green circle appeared and trapped all three duelists inside. "Like we haven't faced this card before. We'll break through the Seal by defeating you and letting it take your soul instead!" Kristiann shouted back. "That's a very noble idea, but I'm afraid the reality is much darker. Using the power of all of the guardians, I'll make sure your futile efforts of victory won't succeed. And speaking of power, Yami wasn't always as strong as he is now. The very first shard you destroyed, you didn't even have to duel for. That's because Yami just didn't have the strength at the time. Or maybe he just didn't want to face you. I'm not sure, but I do know this card represents that encounter. I summon Deadly Sin Knight- Sloth in attack mode!" Nightshroud exclaimed as his black knight emerged with 1500 attack and 1600 defense. But then the helmet of the black knight shattered and revealed the face of the phantom form of Yami from the past and the Seal of Orichalcos appeared on its forehead, boosting its power to 2000 attack and 2100 defense.

"I lay one card facedown and end my turn." Nightshroud concluded. "Alright then, it's my move." Kristiann said as she drew a card. "I might now have a strong enough monster to defeat yours, but I can summon my Beautiful Aqua Princess to the field." Kristiann said as her aquatic princess emerged with 1500 attack and 1200 defense. "Then I play two cards facedown and end my turn. And because I do, I gain 500 life points due to my Aqua Princess's ability." Kristiann concluded as her life points rose to 4500. "I guess then I have to make up for ya." James said as he drew a card. "And I might not have a strong enough monster in attack, but I can summon this monster in defense mode to protect me." James stated as he placed his monster facedown in defense mode. "That ends my turn." James concluded.

"Is that all you can come up with? How pathetic!" Nightshroud remarked as he drew a card. "Your defensive strategy is no match for a quick and fiery assault. If you remember there was a guardian you faced once that believed the same thing about fire and anger. His wrath might have been enough, but I can assure you that mine is. I sacrifice my Deadly Sin Knight- Sloth in order to summon my Deadly Sin Knight- Wrath in attack mode!" Nightshroud exclaimed as his new fiery black knight emerged with 2400 attack and 1300 defense. Immediately, its helmet also shattered and revealed the head of a familiar character. "I told you that you couldn't get rid of me that easily." Alister remarked as the Seal of Orichalcos appeared on his familiar's forehead, boosting his power to 2900 attack and 1800 defense. "With all the anger of a fallen villain, my Deadly Sin Knight- Wrath has a special ability: When I summon him to the field, I can destroy one of your monsters. And I'll use that effect to burn away your facedown monster." Nightshroud explained. "How's this for me revenge?!" Alister shouted as he threw a flaming ball of energy at James' defense monster, Mid-Shield Gardna, destroying it. "But I'm afraid you haven't suffered enough this turn. So I'll activate a magic card Alister himself once used. I activate Dark Flames Wrath, and since my sin knight is treated as both a dark and fire monster, I can use it to destroy Kristiann's Beautiful Aqua Princess!" Nightshroud added as flames engulfed Kristiann's monster, destroying it in a blaze. "And now to continue my conquest, I'll activate the magic card Premature Burial. Now, at the cost of 800 life points, I can bring back my Deadly Sin Knight- Sloth in attack mode!" Nightshroud called as his Phantom-Yami knight emerged with a total of 2000 attack and 2100 defense.

"And now I'll unleash my Wrath upon you! Alister, attack Kristiann's life points directly!" Nightshroud commanded as his knight ran up to Kristiann and slashed her, reducing her life points to 1600. "And now, Deadly Sin Knight- Sloth, attack James' life points directly. This'll teach you not to be lazy!" Nightshroud shouted as Phantom-Yami slashed Yami, bringing his life points down to 2000. "That might be enough torment for one turn, but don't worry, there's more to come. I end my turn." Nightshroud concluded. "Alright, then it's my turn to take back this duel." Kristiann stated as she drew a card. "And I have the perfect card to play now. I activate my Essence of Light magic card! This allows me to summon my Vampire Lord as a light monster and give it 500 extra attack points!" Kristiann called as her now light vampire emerged with a total of 2500 attack and 1500 defense. "But that monster can't possibly compete with my Wrath Knight." Nightshroud laughed. "Yes, but it is strong enough to destroy your other Sin Knight. Go Vampire Lord, destroy Nightshroud's Sin Knight- Sloth!" Kristiann commanded as her vampire master shot a blast of energy at the knight, destroying it and reducing Nightshroud's life points to 3500.

"And because my Vampire Lord inflicted damage to your life points, you have to discard a certain type of card from your deck. And I choose for you to discard a monster card from your deck." Kristiann explained, but Nightshroud simply smiled. "You think you did yourself a favor with that move? Well, instead you ended up doing me a favor. You see, in every human heart there's a spark of desire for more. I can think of someone in particular who wanted more and more. And I think I'll him back from the soulless realm. When this monster is sent directly from the deck to the graveyard, I can instead summon him in attack mode. So arise, Deadly Sin Knight- Greed!" Nightshroud called as his familiar black knight emerged with 2100 attack and defense. But then the knight's helmet shattered, revealing the face of the very first guardian they dueled. "Remember me, Kristiann? I wanted it all, the powers of light and the powers of darkness. But now it doesn't matter because only one wins out in the end. Any guesses which?" Raphael taunted as the Seal of Orichalcos appeared on his forehead, boosting his power to 2600 attack and defense.

"Of course, how could I forget how I totally beat you? But for now, I lay one card facedown and end my turn." Kristiann concluded. "Of course, there's nothing you can do now. The powers of darkness and sin will completely crush you and leave you sprawling in a realm of complete pain and nightmares. So make you your pathetic move, James. It'll be one of your last!" Nightshroud taunted with an evil laugh.


	42. Chapter 42: Out with a Bang

Chapter 42- Out with a Bang

"Nightshroud, this duel is far from over." James stated as he drew a card. "Since I have no monsters on my side of the field and you have two, I can summon my Swift Guardian Knight in attack mode without a sacrifice." James called as his warrior emerged with 2800 attack and 1700 defense. "But there's more where that came from. Now I activate my magic card The Emperor's Absolute to summon another high level monster from my deck, namely Cyber-Tech Alligator!" James exclaimed as his mechanical beast emerged with 2500 attack and 1600 defense. "That's all very nice and all, but neither of your monsters have enough attack points to destroy either of my monsters." Nightshroud laughed. "That may be true now, but once I activate this magic card you won't be laughing. I activate Banner of Courage! With this card in play, all of my monsters gain 200 attack during the battle phase only. Luckily, that's just enough for my monsters to be stronger than yours." James explained as both of his monsters gained 200 attack points as they prepared for battle.

"Now, Swift Guardian Knight, attack Nightshroud's Wrath Knight!" James exclaimed as his warrior slashed Alister's familiar, destroying it and reducing Nightshroud's life points to 3400. "And also, Cyber-Tech Alligator, attack his other sin knight, the greed one!" James added as his gator monster destroyed Raphael's familiar, reducing Nightshroud's life points again to 3300. "And just in case, I'll lay these two cards facedown. That'll end my turn." James concluded. "You think just because you've destroyed two of my monsters that it's all over?!" Nightshroud snapped as he drew a card. "I know that I'm better than all of you, but talk is cheap. Instead, I think I'll back up my pride, unlike an old friend of yours. Much like your Swift Guardian Knight has the ability to be summoned, this monster can also be summoned if you have more monsters than me. I'll prove my superiority by summoning my Deadly Sin Knight- Pride in attack mode!" Nightshroud exclaimed as his black knight emerged with 2200 attack and 2000 defense. But once again, the knight's helmet shattered, revealing the head of Kaiba's opponent in battle. "I'm glad I can once again play a part in utterly destroying you fools once and for all." Ken sneered as the Seal of Orichalcos appeared on his forehead, boosting his power to 2700 attack and 2500 defense.

"And since that was a special summon, I can summon another monster this turn. Don't you see it now? Every time you destroy one or two of my monsters, I can just call forth more. That is the nature of darkness: it can never be truly defeated because it keeps coming back for more. It is our lust for power and victory that allows us to triumph over your kind. On that note, I summon Deadly Sin Knight- Lust in attack mode." Nightshroud called as his black knight, this time female, emerged with 1900 attack and 1600 defense. But again, the helmet shattered revealing a beautiful, yet evil face. "Aren't you glad to see me, hun? I must I love this combination of power and… your destruction of course!" Marina stated as the Seal appeared on her forehead, boosting her power to 2400 attack and 2100 defense. "But this lovely lady here has a special ability as well. As long as she's on the field, all of my dark monsters gain 300 attack points, including herself." Nightshroud explained as Pride's attack points rose to 3000 and Lust's rose to 2700. "And now, I have all that I need to turn the tables once again on this duel. Deadly Sin Knight- Lust, avenge yourself and destroy Kristiann's Vampire Lord!" Nightshroud commanded as Marina's familiar dashed forward, sword in hand.

"I'm sorry, but I beg to differ. I activate my trap card Mirror Wall. This card activates every time you attack and cuts your monster's attack points in half before the attack hits." Kristiann explained as the wall of mirrors rose up from the ground. "I'm afraid that I beg to differ with that. Before my attack actually hits, I'll activate a magic card called Dark Wings. As long as this card is in play, none of my dark monsters are effected by magic and trap cards when they attack. Nice try though." Nightshroud countered as his knight sprouted black wings and smashed through the Mirror Wall without losing attack points, making it connect with Vampire Lord, destroying it and reducing Kristiann's life points to 1400. "And with your life points wide open, I can now end this duel for you, destroying at the very essence of light once and for all. Deadly Sin Knight- Pride, finish off Kristiann!" Nightshroud commanded as his second knight began its charge. "You think I'd really allow such a thing. I'd do anything, even give up my own soul if it means protecting my lady. Fortunately, I won't have to go to that extreme. But I will have to sacrifice a monster. But that's ok. I activate my trap card Attack Guidance Armor, redirecting the attack to my Cyber-Tech Alligator." James countered as his trap redirected Nightshroud's attack to his monster, destroying it instead and bringing James' life points to 1500.

"Thanks, James, that was a close one." Kristiann sighed. "Anytime." James replied with a smile. "How very touching, but I'm afraid I'll soon have to put an end to your sickening cuteness. I lay two cards facedown and end my turn." Nightshroud concluded. "Alright, then I'll use the second chance you gave me and take him out." Kristiann stated as she drew a card. "First I'll activate the magic card Graceful Charity, which allows me to draw three cards, but then I have to discard two." Kristiann explained as she drew her cards. "But now I can activate Monster Reborn to bring back a monster that I just discarded. In fact, it's one of my most favorite monsters. Arise, Shining Arctic Queen!" Kristiann called as her beautiful lady emerged with 2800 attack and 1500 defense. "And now, with her on my side, I can't lose. Shining Arctic Queen, attack that obnoxious Sin Knight Lust!" Kristiann commanded as her queen shot a beam of light energy at Marina. "That would have been pretty ironic, but unfortunately, it won't happen here in this duel. I activate my trap card Alluring Sin Summoning. This lets me summon one Deadly Sin Knight monster from my hand or deck and forces it to be the target of your attack." Nightshroud explained. "So I'll call forth an old friend of yours, James: Deadly Sin Knight- Gluttony in defense mode!" Nightshroud called as his black knight emerged with 1400 attack and 2400 defense. But then the knight's helmet shattered, revealing a familiar head of blue-green hair. "Ahaha, I'm back from the spirit world just to torment you, James and Kristiann!" Noah exclaimed as his power rose to 1900 attack and 2900 defense due to the Seal of Orichalcos.

Shining Arctic Queen's attack hit it, but Noah withstood the attack and inflicted 100 points of damage to Kristiann's life points, bringing her down to 1300 life points. "And with your attack finished, I can activate my knight's special ability. When he's summoned to the field, I can do one of two things: I can either increase my life points by 1000, or I can summon another monster from my hand. And I think I'll choose the latter. So be jealous of me as I call forth, my final Deadly Sin Knight- Envy!" Nightshroud explained as yet another black knight emerged with 1300 attack and defense. But then the helmet shattered, revealing a mysterious head. "Light and darkness are usually in perfect balance. But once again the balance is tipped in darkness' favor." Sheik stated as the Seal appeared on his forehead, boosting his stats to 1800 attack and defense. "Alright, I don't have anything left to play. I end my turn." Kristiann concluded.

"Excellent, but before you start your turn James, I'm going to activate the special ability of my latest sin knight. Desire resides in the hearts of everyone, you see. However in this case, when I desire something, I can have it. By using the special effect of my Deadly Sin Knight- Envy, all I have to do is give up 1000 life points and I can take control of one of your monsters for one turn. And I think I'll take control of your Shining Arctic Queen. Now I have five strong monsters protecting me. You don't stand a chance, but make your move anyway, James." Nightshroud taunted as Kristiann's monster switched over to his side of the field and his life points dropped to 2300. "Alright, this is going to be a tough one, but I think we can pull through." James stated as he drew a card. "First I'll activate the magic card Pot of Greed to draw two cards." James said desperately as he drew his cards. "Yes! Now I have everything I need to win this duel right here and now!" James exclaimed happily. "Impossible!" Nightshroud contradicted. "But it is possible. First, I summon my Marauding Captain in attack mode. And because of his special ability, I can summon another monster from my hand also. Namely, my Rocket Warrior." James explained as his armed warrior emerged with 1200 attack and 700 defense and his rocket-shaped warrior emerged with 1500 attack and 1300 defense.

"How are two puny monsters going to possible help you now? They can't do a thing against me!" Nightshroud exclaimed. "I agree, on their own, they're not enough here. But once I call on the power of my legendary dragon, things will be totally different. I activate the Claw of Hermos and fuse him with my Rocket Warrior to make Rocket Hermos Cannon. And I think I'll give it to my Marauding Captain." James explained as the large blaster was giving to his captain, who threw it on its shoulder and aimed it right at Nightshroud's monsters. "Nervous yet? Well you should be, because my Rocket Hermos Cannon lets me automatically destroy all monsters on your side of the field. So say goodbye to all your sin knights. Fire!" James commanded as his captain pulled the trigger and shot a barrage of missiles that destroyed all of Nightshroud's monsters, including Shining Arctic Queen. "You realize you had to destroy her monster as well." Nightshroud pointed out as the smoke cleared. "Yes, but it was a small price to pay because now you're wide open for a final attack. Go Swift Guardian Knight, attack Nightshroud directly and end this duel now!" James commanded as his knight dashed forward, its lance pointed right at its target. James' knight hit its mark, jabbing Nightshroud in the chest and sending him flying back, reducing his life points to 0.

"It's over, Nightshroud." James stated, but Nightshroud only laughed. "It's never over James. I activate my facedown trap card Final Tourniquet. With this, I can summon a dark monster from my deck and it becomes my new life points. As long as it remains on the field, I remain in the duel. So I'll call forth the Red-Eyes Black Dragon to serve as my life force." Nightshroud called as his dark dragon emerged with 2400 attack and 2000 defense. "Well then, I guess I end my turn." James concluded. "Of course you do. It's time to enter the final phase of this duel and your futile quest." Nightshroud said angrily as he drew a card. "Now I hold exactly what I need to summon the ultimate card Master Yami entrusted me with. James and Kristiann, it truly ends here with the final summoning of nightmares!" Nightshroud shouted menacingly.


	43. Chapter 43: The Triumph of the Light

Chapter 43- The Triumph of the Light

"In order to first summon the ultimate dragon of darkness, I must first sacrifice my Red-Eyes Black Dragon in order to call forth my stronger Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!" Nightshroud called as his dragon was transformed into a stronger, darker form with 2700 attack and 2000 defense, boosted to 3200 attack and 2500 defense due to the Seal of Orichalcos. "But that's not all. For you see, as Master Yami gets stronger and stronger, our powers become darker and darker. You recall how Master Yami told you how this unfortunate girl met her end, right? She was running down a chasm, chased by Master Yami riding on his faithful steed, a dragon of intense darkness. Now, my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, may be powerful, but he pales in comparison to Master Yami's dragon. However, now that Master Yami has taken up residence in his own nightmare world, he has bestowed upon me charge of that same dark dragon that has claimed the souls of so many. And with this magic card, I can summon it to the field. I activate the spell card Forbidden Fusion!" Nightshroud shouted. "With this card, I can fuse my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon on the field with as many dark monsters from my graveyard as I can muster. So I'll fuse together my dragon with my seven Deadly Sin Knights." Nightshroud explained as the seven shard guardians formed a ring around Nightshroud's monster, all of their swords pointed towards it. As each sword shot a black energy wave at the dragon, Nightshroud began to laugh maniacally.

"Now arise, Red-Eyes Nightmare Dragon!" Nightshroud shouted as the ritual was complete and the new dragon of pure darkness emerged with 3000 attack and defense points, boosted to the Seal of Orichalcos to 3500 attack and defense. "Cower in fear before the unmatched power of the Red-Eyes Nightmare Dragon. But, there's more. For every monster that I used to summon it, other than Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon of course, my new dragon gains 500 attack points. In case you didn't count that's seven monsters, meaning my dragon gains 3500 attack points!" Nightshroud explained as his monster's attack points rose to 7000. "That's insane!" James exclaimed. "Yes, it is beyond powerful. But you haven't seen anything yet. Just wait until I activate his special ability. Actually, you won't have to wait, because I'm activating it now. Once per duel, I can destroy every card on the field and in all of our hands, save for my dragon of course. Go Red-Eyes Nightmare Dragon, total obliteration!" Nightshroud commanded as his dragon unleashed a shock wave of dark energy that destroyed all cards on the field expect itself.

"And now there's no hope for you. But I'll let you squirm in anguish as you try to throw together one last futile move. I end my turn and, effectively, this duel." Nightshroud concluded. "Well this doesn't seem at all familiar, does it James?" Kristiann asked with a faint smile to her partner. "Not at all. The honor's all yours though. There's not a single card in my entire deck that can turn this one around. But I can think of one in yours that'll do the trick again. So it's all up to you, Kristiann. Shut down that Nightmare Dragon and win this duel." James stated encouragingly. "Alright, then, here goes nothing." Kristiann desperately drew her card. "And I drew it! The only card that can possibly turn this around. Nightshroud, I used this card in an extremely hopeless situation last time I dueled against your master. And now I activate it again: Rocket Ship to Jupiter!" Kristiann called as she activated the magic card. "You fool! Do you realize how much of a long shot that is? There's no way it'll do you any good." Nightshroud retorted. "I beg to differ. My Rocket Ship to Jupiter card lets me draw three cards since there are no monsters on my side of the field. And I believe that I can and will draw the exact three cards I need. But maybe that's because I've been hearing so much destiny talk this whole quest. But at any rate, here goes nothing!" Kristiann exclaimed as she drew her final three cards.

"And my faith hasn't let me down, because I do indeed have all I need to win here and now. Are you ready?" Kristiann beckoned to her angry looking opponent. "I'll take that as a yes. Now here we go! First I activate my Soul Release magic card to remove from play all the monsters in my graveyard. I did that so that now I can summon my Guardian Eatos to the field!" Kristiann called as her angelic guardian emerged with 2500 attack and 2000 defense. "Isn't it ironic that a card I won from one of your guardians is letting me win now? But it's not just my Guardian Eatos that'll let me win. It'll be the fusion of it plus another card I've acquired over this journey. I activate the Eye of Timaeus! Now I can fuse Timaeus with Guardian Eatos in order to form my Light Guardian Dragon!" Kristiann called as her angelic, light dragon emerged from a flash of light with 3000 attack and 2800 defense. "You know, for a moment there, you actually had me nervous. But even that legendary dragon is too weak to stand up to my dragon!" Nightshroud laughed. "In attack points maybe. But my dragon also has a special ability. Once per turn, I can remove from play one of your monsters as long as it's not a light monster. And last I checked, your Red-Eyes Nightmare Dragon is a creature of darkness." Kristiann stated. "Alright, awesome! Now finish him off!" James exclaimed happily with a jump.

"That's a good idea. Light Guardian Dragon, remove from play Nightshroud's Red-Eyes Nightmare Dragon and put an end to this duel!" Kristiann commanded as her dragon shot a blast of intense light energy at Nightshroud's dragon, striking it right in the chest and removing it from the field. The shock waves from the assault, radiated throughout the field, sending Nightshroud flying backwards, flipping him, where he finally landed facedown on the ground.


	44. Chapter 44: Into the Nightmare World

Chapter 44- Into the Nightmare World

"Since you only remained in this duel as long as your dragon did, now that it's gone, you lose the duel. It's over Nightshroud!" Kristiann shouted to him. "It's… it's…" Nightshroud began to say, but he collapsed again before he got the words out.

Suddenly, from behind them, the church doors burst open and Seto and Mokuba Kaiba dashed in. "I knew we'd be late! We probably shouldn't have stopped for slurpees." Mokuba panted as they walked up to where James and Kristiann were. "Shut up Mokuba. So what happened here?" Seto Kaiba asked. "Well, long story short, all of the guardian duels were for nothing because Yami used the souls of the guardians to revive himself and create a new dimension for himself. That's where he is now and that's where that vortex leads to." James explained as he pointed to the swirling vortex behind him. "See I told you there was something going down here." Mokuba told his brother. "And just who is that guy?" Kaiba then asked as he pointed to the fallen Nightshroud. "Before Yami escaped, he sent his general Nightshroud to protect the passageway. So Kristiann and I faced him in a duel. We just won when you showed up." James answered. "Kaiba, I think I know now what we have to do to defeat Yami once and for all and save the world. We have to follow him into his own nightmare world and take him down there. But for that, we need your help. You have the third legendary dragon, so it must be destiny that you come help us now." Kristiann told him.

"Please, like I believe in any of that destiny nonsense." Kaiba replied smartly. "How very touching, the three heroes together at last." Nightshroud gasped as he struggled to pull himself up. "Seto Kaiba, how good it is to see you here. Destiny's chosen are now all in one place. That's great." Nightshroud stated flatly as he realized the Seal of Orichalcos was closing in on him to take his soul. "It doesn't matter who's here, Nightshroud, because it's over for you. We just defeated you so now the Seal of Orichalcos is going to take your soul." Kristiann reminded. "It would appear so. Unfortunately for you, I can't allow that to happen. I can't be defeated that easily. Using the power of Master Yami's Red-Eyes Nightmare Dragon, I'll escape from this accursed circle." Nightshroud stated as he charged up dark energy in his hands. When he was done charging, he unleashes two massive blasts of dark energy through the ground at two different points on the Seal of Orichalcos. When the dark energy blasts made contact with the Seal, they caused the Seal of Orichalcos to shatter in pieces of green runes.

"Did you just…" James trailed off. "Break the Seal of Orichalcos. Yes, I did. You see, the Seal of Orichalcos is composed of dark energy, but it was simply a tool used by Master Yami to harvest souls. Since I can't allow it to take mine, I simply disposed of it using the same dark energy that brought it back from extinction." Nightshroud explained. "You mean, this so-called Yami brought back the original Orichalcos?" Kaiba asked. "How very perceptive of you, Seto Kaiba. It's a shame you're too skeptical about your own fate to join the fight in stopping it. Or maybe you're just too weak." Nightshroud replied smartly. "My big brother is everything but weak! He could beat you in just one turn!" Mokuba shouted at the dark masked man. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. It's too bad you'll never get the chance to find out. On second thought, maybe you will get the chance after all." Nightshroud stated as he extended a black whip from his arm and shot it directly at Mokuba. It ensnared him in it and Nightshroud used it to pull Mokuba to him, where he held him in a headlock.

"Let me go!" Mokuba squealed. "Mokuba! Unhand him you snake!" Kaiba shouted at his brother's captor. "No I don't think I will actually. But I must be going now. I must report to Master Yami that you intruders are on your way. We will meet again. But for now, farewell!" Nightshroud bid goodbye as he jumped, with Mokuba, into the swirling vortex. "Mokuba!" Kaiba shouted after him, but they were already gone. "Kaiba, now more than ever we need your help. Not only to save the world, but also to rescue Mokuba. Kaiba, will you please join us?" James pleaded. Kaiba was silent for a moment before giving his answer. "Now listen here, I don't believe in any of this destiny nonsense. Nor do I care about your little game with your multiple personality disorder. But I do care about my brother, and I would do anything to get him back. It's only for that reason, but yes, I'll go along with you losers." Kaiba answered. "So you'll really come with us?!" Kristiann asked excitedly.

"Didn't I just say that? But enough of this idle chattering. What are we trying to do, just fill up space in a conclusion chapter? Let's go, we have work to do." Kaiba urged as he walked towards the portal. "Alright then, we're about to embark on a totally new adventure into a world that we know absolutely nothing about. Who knows what kind of danger we'll face? All I know is that if we face it together, we can overcome it. Let's go, team!" James said dramatically as he nodded to Kristiann as all three of them walked towards the swirling portal. "God, does someone always have to give some kind of dramatic speech?" Kaiba asked annoyed as he, Kristiann, and James all disappeared into the dark world Yami created, off to face unknown dangers and defeat once and for all the powerful forces of darkness.


End file.
